Facebook on Friday said it is a non-partisan platform and will continue to remove content posted by public figures in India that are in violation of its standards, amid allegations that the social media giant did not apply hate speech rules for posts by certain ruling party politicians.
Recently, a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Facebook's content policies favoured the BJP in India. The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress have since traded barbs over the social media giant's alleged bias.
"Facebook is and always has been an open, transparent and non-partisan platform where people can express themselves freely. Over the last few days, we have been accused of bias in the way we enforce our policies. We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form," Facebook India Vice President and Managing Director Ajit Mohan said in a blog post on Friday. He added that Facebook has an impartial approach to dealing with content and is strongly governed by its Community Standards.
"We enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position, party affiliation or religious and cultural belief. We have removed and will continue to remove content posted by public figures in India when it violates our Community Standards," he said.
Mohan's statement came a day after the parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, announced its decision to summon Facebook on September 2 to discuss the issue of alleged misuse of social media platforms.
Facebook has been summoned to appear on September 2 and the discussion will last for 30 minutes.
"The subject is serious because of Facebook's extensive reach in India ... and the potential for hate speech to incite violence and other unlawful behaviour," said a panel member who declined to be identified.
Facebook, which has more than 300 million users in India, its biggest market, did not respond to a request for comment on being summoned by the panel.
Facebook has long faced criticism for high-profile content moderation issues. Its soon-to-be-operational content Oversight Board, which some have dubbed the company's "Supreme Court", said it was committed to protecting users.
"How Facebook treats posts from public figures that may violate the Community Standards are within the scope of the board," the board told Reuters in a statement.
"We won't shy away from the tough cases and holding Facebook accountable," said the board, which has powers to overturn decisions by the company and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on whether individual pieces of content should be allowed or not.
'Expect to consider challenging cases'
Facebook's Oversight Board has said it will be within its scope to examine how the social media giant treats posts from public figures that may violate community standards and are the type of "highly challenging cases" that the board expects to consider once it starts functioning.
Oversight Board is an independent body set up by Facebook for content moderation in a transparent manner. In May, Facebook announced the names of 20 board members, including National Law School of India University Vice Chancellor Sudhir Krishnaswamy. The board is expected to begin operations in the coming months.
An Oversight Board spokesperson said the board, comprising independent expert members from around the world, is empowered to make binding and independent decisions on many of the most challenging content issues on Facebook and Instagram.
"... we are committed to protecting users and holding Facebook accountable. How Facebook treats posts from public figures that may violate the Community Standards are within the scope of the Board and are the type of highly challenging cases that the Board expects to consider when we begin operating," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson said that hate speech is included in this and "we won't shy away from the tough cases and holding Facebook accountable". The board is working hard to become operational and expects to begin to hear cases in the coming months, the spokesperson added.
The board was formed after Facebook was mired in various controversies, including the one in relation to Cambridge Analytica.
(With inputs from agencies)
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