IT Min condemns FB 'interference' in political process, cites pre-2019 LS poll censorship

On Tuesday, Union Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg condemning the interference in the Indian political process. He alleged that there was a concerted attempt by the Facebook India management to delete pages or substantially reduce the reach of people supportive of the right-of-centre ideology. Claiming that the affected persons did get a right of appeal, he attributed this to the dominant political belief of individuals working in the Facebook India team.

Stressing that Facebook is visibly seen to be fair and neutral, he lamented that people having a certain political belief are trying to discredit India's democratic process by dominating the decision-making apparatus of social media platforms. Pointing out that Facebook India employees were abusing the PM and other Cabinet Ministers, Prasad contended that Facebook had emerged as the latest tool to stoke internal divisions and social disturbances. Taking a veiled dig at the recent media reports that alleged a nexus between BJP and Facebook, the Union IT Minister alleged that this showcased an internal power struggle within Zuckerberg's company to achieve ideological hegemony. 

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Demand for country-specific community guidelines

In his letter, Prasad accused a group of Facebook employees of colluding with the international media to give a free run to "malevolent vested interests" to cast aspersions on India's democratic process. He added that no meaningful action had been taken against radical and anarchic elements. On this occasion, the senior BJP leader also found fault with Facebook's policy of outsourcing fact-checking to third-party fact-checkers.

He highlighted that these fact-checkers themselves harbour political biases and have failed to prevent the platform from being used to spread misinformation about COVID-19. Maintaining that a transnational digital platform with a large user base cannot remain immune to local sensitivities, Prasad called upon Facebook to put in place country-specific community guidelines. The Union IT Minister requested Zuckerberg to ensure that his company is not hijacked by a vested lobby that abhors free speech and tries to enforce one world view. It is pertinent to note that the Congress party has already written two letters to the Facebook CEO seeking action against its India team and an independent probe into its functioning. 

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