IT Correspondent
New Delhi, Sept. 2:
The ongoing controversy regarding Facebook’s alleged political bias took a new turn on Tuesday after Union Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg raising his ‘serious concerns’ over the issue.
In his letter, the minister broached on the topic of deletion of some pages and posts on “Facebook”, and said that those affected by the bias of “Facebook India” had no right of appeal. Among other accusations, the minister alleged that “Facebook” employees have abused the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers while working at “Facebook India” and managing important positions.
”It is doubly problematic when the bias of individuals becomes an inherent bias of the platform. And it is unacceptable when political biases of individuals impinge on the freedom of speech of millions of people,” it stated. Citing “credible media reports”, Prasad also accused “Facebook India” team of being dominantly managed by people who belong to a particular political belief.
As a transnational digital platform, “Facebook” must not only be fair and neutral, but also visibly seen to be so, to users of diverse beliefs and ideologies Individuals working in any organisation may have their individual likes or dislikes, but that must not have any bearing on the public policies and performance of the organisation. It seems from credible media reports that “Facebook India” team, right from the India Managing Director to other senior officials, is dominated by people who belong to a particular political belief. People from this political predisposition have been overwhelmingly defeated by the people of in successive free and fair elections. After having lost all democratic legitimacy, they are trying to discredit India’s democratic process by dominating the decision-making apparatus of important social media platforms. “Facebook” is the latest tool in their arsenal to stroke internal divisions and social disturbances.
I’ve been informed that in run up to 2019 Lok Sabha polls, there was concerted effort by “FB India” to not just delete pages or substantially reduce their reach but also offer no right of appeal to affected people who’re supportive of right-of-centre ideology, Prasad stated in his letter.
Prasad’s letter comes at a time when the Congress party and opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, have accused ” Facebook” and ”WhatsApp’s interference in India’s internal affairs, democracy and social harmony. Rahul Gandhi has also demanded an investigation into the allegations against “Facebook”.
Prasad’s letter comes a before day the meeting of a Parliamentary committee where opposition parties are likely to raise the issue of “Facebook India”’s alleged bias towards BJP, and reports of its public policy head Ankhi Das supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and disparaging opposition in internal messages.
The Parliamentary committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday where opposition parties are likely to raise the issue of “Facebook India”’s alleged bias, amid reports of alleged bias among its senior management in India.
