Facebook has sent a response to the Congress, which had earlier written to it over allegations of political bias on part of the social media giant, stating that it takes allegations of bias seriously and wants to make it clear that it denounces hate and bigotry in all forms. “...we want to take this opportunity to state that we are nonpartisan and strive to ensure that our platforms remain a space where people can express themselves freely. We take allegations of bias seriously and want to make clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in all forms,” Neil Potts, Director, Public Policy—Trust and Safety, Facebook wrote to AICC General Secretary Organisation K.C. Venugopal in a letter dated September 1.
Venugopal had written to Facebook on August 18, expressing concern over the allegations of political bias on part of the social media platform when it comes to regulating hate content posted by figures close to the ruling dispensation and asking it to acknowledge the issue and take corrective steps.
On the question of hateful content by public figures, Potts said Facebook's Community Standards prohibit attacks against people based on their protected characteristics, including religion, caste, ethnicity, and national origin. “In line with our hate speech policy, we have removed and will continue to remove hateful content by public figures in India on our platforms,” he said.
Decisions on enforcement of policies are not made unilaterally by any one person, he said, stressing that they are inclusive of different views from teams around the company in order to consider, understand and account for both local and global contexts. “As part of our policy development process, we consult a community of external voices, including civil society organisations, academics, and subject experts. We also rely extensively on inputs from a broad cross-section of internal teams who understand both local and global contexts in the enforcement of our policies on hate speech and dangerous organisations and individuals. We have a team with deep expertise on terrorism and organised hate, who pay attention to global and regional trends and advise on these matters,” wrote Potts.
Public policy, he said, is a diverse team representing a varied political spectrum, who have either served in many administrations or have political experience and take immense pride in being active contributors to public service. “This is the case not only in India but also globally. Together, we have a non-partisan approach in dealing with content and have designed systems to ensure we are enforcing policies globally without regard for anyone’s past political positions, party affiliation, or beliefs,” he said.
Potts said Facebook has published transparency reports to be open and proactive in explaining how action is taken with regard to harmful content on the platforms. Facebook, he said, has removed 22.5 million pieces of hate speech content from April-June in 2020, up from 1.6 million pieces removed in the last quarter of 2017.
“The Indian National Congress notes the response from Facebook Inc and their wish to be non-partisan and non-interfering in India’s affairs. The Congress party will await further concrete action from the global leadership of Facebook and demonstration of specific corrective measures being undertaken in Facebook and WhatsApp India,” said Praveen Chakravarty, Chairman, AICC Data Analytics.
The party, he said, had raised alarm over interference in India’s internal affairs by a foreign company. “This is not a political issue. This is about India’s democracy and use of digital weapons to disrupt India’s social order by a foreign company, at the behest of certain individuals in their leadership team,” he said.
