New Delhi: The Facebook headquarters has responded to the Congress Party's letter demanding an inquiry into its operations in India.
It said corrective measures will be taken in the matter, ensuring that hate and bigotry will be denounced in all forms.
In its letter dated September 1, Facebook stated, "We are non-partisan 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."
Articles published in Wall Street Journal and TIME Magazine, during the past few weeks, elucidated that Facebook India and WhatsApp have been used to "fire Mr. Modi and BJP's social media campaign", spread hate and disharmony within India and more. The articles also revealed that a top executive of Facebook India - Ankhi Das, had "colluded" with the BJP even before 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
"These articles reviewed how personal bias and proximity of Facebook and WhatsApp India leadership team with ruling BJP spilled over to their professional endeavours and used the near-monopoly power of their platforms to influence and interfere in India's electoral democracy and social harmony," said Praveen Chakravarty, Chairman of Congress' Data Analytics, in a statement.
Read: Parliamentary panel probes FB India chief; accuses firm of bias, collusion
Facebook Public Policy executive, Neil Potts mentioned in his letter that the company had described its Community Standards to Congress leaders during an interaction, in which an assurance was also being given that all the posts of hate speech by public figures were and will continue to be removed from its platform.
Facebook also consulted a community of external voices, including civil society organisations, academics and subject experts to discuss about company's policies over hate speeches.
"Public policy is a diverse team representing a varied political spectrum. 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 affiliations or beliefs," stated Potts in his letter.
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Top Congress Party official KC Venugopal had written a letter to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg on August 18, expressing concern over the matter and demanding an immediate enquiry. Facebook thanked Congress for its suggestions, but did not refute any of the charges made against individuals of Facebook India leadership team in the media articles.
"Congress will await further concrete action from global leadership of Facebook demonstration of specific corrective measures being undertaken in Facebook and Whatsapp India. It must be reiterated that media revelations were based on solid documentary evidence of internal communication and hence incontrovertible," said Praveen Chakravarty.
Read: Facebook India chief appears before Parliamentary panel
