Alleging the ‘Meta is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India’, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge cites reports and shared INDIA parties’ letter to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on 12 October.
Taking on X (formerly Twitter), Kharge cited recent exposes by the Washington Post on the role of WhatsApp and Facebook in aiding the communal hatred campaign of the BJP-led ruling government. He also cited that the article details how this vile, communally divisive propaganda is carried out using WhatsApp groups by BJP members and supporters.
He wrote, “You may be aware of the recent exposes by the Washington Post newspaper about the role of WhatsApp and Facebook in aiding the communal hatred campaign of the ruling BJP.”
Here’s the tweet:
The Congress President also cited another report by the post ‘Under India’s pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thrive’.
He said, “It is very clear from these exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India.”
Kharge also claimed to have data that ‘shows algorithmic moderations and suppression of Opposition leaders’ content on your platform while also promoting ruling party content’.
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The Congress president, through his letter, made it clear that this partisanship and bias towards one political formation by a private foreign company will not be taken lightly by the INDIA alliance.
In his request to Meta, Kharge – citing the 2024 Lok Sabha elections – suggested Meta consider these facts seriously and ensure immediately that Meta’s operation in India remains neutral. He also sought Meta should look that its social media sites are not used wittingly or unwittingly to cause social unrestor distort India’s much cherished democratic ideas.
Incidentally, he mentioned that the letter was being written on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was the greatest champion of non-violence and social harmony in history.
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Updated: 12 Oct 2023, 11:00 PM IST