Facebook controversy: Rahul says no one can be allowed to interfere in nation's affairs

Accusing the Bhartiya Janta Party of subverting India's democracy and harmony, the congress party on Tuesday launched another attack against the ruling dispensation. Congress also demanded an immediate probe into the operations of Facebook and Whatsapp in India.

New Delhi: Alleging a 'nexus' between the BJP and Facebook, the Congress on Tuesday demanded a probe into it, with Rahul Gandhi saying that international media has 'exposed' the social media giant's 'brazen assault' on India's democracy and social harmony.

With his tweet hitting out at the social media giant, Gandhi tagged a recent report by the Wall Street Journal on how questions were raised by Facebook employees on its India team's neutrality after an executive posted internal messages allegedly favouring the BJP.

"International media have fully exposed Facebook's and WhatsApp's brazen assault on India's democracy and social harmony," he said.

"No one, let alone a foreign company, can be allowed to interfere in our nation's affairs. They must be investigated immediately and when found guilty, punished," Gandhi tweeted.

The Congress also issued a statement on Tuesday saying that as "elucidated" by Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine, Facebook India and WhatsApp have been used to fire Mr Modi and BJP's social media campaign.

Meanwhile, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in a three-page letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, alleged "bias and inaction" by individuals in the Facebook India team on complaints by people supportive of right-of-centre ideology.

"I have been informed that in the run-up to 2019 general elections in India, there was a concerted effort by Facebook India management to not just delete pages or substantially reduce their reach but also offer no recourse or right of appeal to affected people who are supportive of right-of-centre ideology," Prasad wrote.

Tagging Prasad's letter to Zuckerberg, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala claimed, "Modi Government comes to the rescue of prejudiced offenders of Facebook India as the ugly nexus is exposed!.... This is 'pot calling the cattle black'."

He also questioned why the Modi government was not agreeing to a JPC probe into the issue.

Dismissing the Congress' allegations, BJP leaders have been alleging that Facebook favours other parties, with the ruling party's IT cell head Amit Malviya alleging a "Congress-Facebook nexus".

The popular messaging app WhatsApp is also owned by Facebook.

Another report in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month and one in the Time magazine had brought to fore similar allegations.

Citing international media reports, the Congress in its statement alleged that Facebook's global leadership has been aware of the biases and partisanship but remained willing participants, "proving that the unholy nexus between BJP-FB has hit the nerve-centre of our nation's democratic functioning".

This blatant shielding of BJP-leaning Facebook pages is nothing short of a deliberate attempt to manipulate the public opinion in India, the party alleged.

"The blasphemous nexus between the BJP and Facebook is for all to witness and must be investigated without delay," it said.

The Congress has written two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking action against its India team, an independent probe into their functioning and replacing them.

Hitting out at the Congress for alleging a nexus between the BJP and Facebook, Malviya had on Saturday said it is not some social media firm but the people of India who have rejected Rahul Gandhi and his party.

After a major political row erupted over the allegations against it, Facebook had earlier said its social media platform prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence, adding these policies are enforced globally without regard to political affiliation.

(PTI)