FB India under Ankhi Das went soft on militant Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal to save business: WSJ report
This report was first published in www.jantakareporter.com and has been posted here without any alterations or editing. To read the original report, CLICK HERE
In a new revelation, America’s Wall Street Journal has reported that Facebook had gone soft on Hindu militant outfit Bajrang Dal, to protect its staff and business interests in India. This was even after Facebook’s own safety team concluded that the militant Hindu organisation with ties with the ruling BJP had supported violence against minorities across India. The safety team had even concluded Bajrang Dal qualified as a ‘dangerous organisation’ and should be banned from its social media platform.
This was after the Hindu radical outfit claimed responsibility for the attack on a Delhi church through a video that clocked more than 2,50,000 views on Facebook.
Facebook’s safety team also advised against taking coercive action against two other militant Hindu outfits namely Sanatan Sanstha and Sri Ram Sena. The WSJ report added that a group of Facebook’s employees had stated in an internal letter and posts on Facebook discussion groups that the presence of ‘Bajrang Dal on its platform, among other organizations, casts doubt on the company’s commitment to tackle hate speech in India.’
Reacting to the WSJ’s revelation, Facebook spokesman Andy Stone was quoted as saying, “We enforce our Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy globally without regard to political position or party affiliation.”
Facebook has been at the centre of huge controversy this year after it was revealed that its lobbyist and India policy director Ankhi Das had promoted Islamophobia using her Facebook account when she called Indian Muslims a traditionally ‘degenerate community.’ The WSJ had alleged in August that Das had stopped Facebook from taking action against a known BJP hatemonger, Raja Singh, when he issued a call for mass violence against Muslims.
A group of Facebook employees had written an open letter on the company’s internal platform demanding answers to some tough questions on ‘anti-Muslim bigotry’ promoted by the India team under Ankhi Das. The letter had also demanded diverse representation in Facebook’s ‘policy team in India (and elsewhere).’
Faced with growing outrage both within the organisation and outside, Das had decided to step down from her post in October this year. Incidentally, Ankhi Das was at the helm of Facebook’s policy decision making when a decision was taken to go soft on Bajrang Dal.
Courtesy: www.jantakareporter.com
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It's treason: Rahul Gandhi on Mohan Bhagwat's 'true independence' remark
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat saying that his remark that India got "true independence" after the Ram temple consecration amounts to treason and is an insult to every Indian.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new Congress headquarters here, Gandhi said every party worker is fighting this battle of ideologies under difficult circumstances where institutions have been captured by the BJP and the RSS and investigative agencies are being used against opposition leaders.
The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha also hit out at the Election Commission and alleged that there is a "serious problem" with the country's election system.
"Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to say to the country what he thinks about the independence movement and the Constitution. What he said yesterday is treason... Because he is stating that the Constitution is invalid and the fight against the British was invalid.
"He has the audacity to say this publicly. In any other country, he would be arrested and tried. That is a fact," Gandhi said at the inauguration of the Indira Gandhi Bhawan.
"To say that India did not get independence in 1947 is an insult to every Indian. And it is time to stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can keep parroting out and shouting," he said.
The former Congress president said the party has worked with the Indian people and it has built the success of this country on the foundations of the Constitution and that is what this building symbolises.
"It is important that we take ideas from this building and spread these ideas in the rest of the country," he said.
Gandhi said "we are fighting a civilisational war with these people, they are attacking every day the ideas that we believe in" and asserted that only the Congress can fight them.
Hitting out at the Election Commission, he said, the EC has refused to give us information about the increase in the number of voters in Maharashtra from Lok Sabha elections to assembly elections.
"What purpose does it serve? Why will it damage the EC? Why are they not giving us the list?
"It is the duty of the EC to ensure transparency in elections. If there is an increase of one crore in (the number of) voters in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha in Maharashtra, it is the duty and sacred responsibility of the EC to show us exactly why this has happened. There is a serious problem with our election system," Gandhi said.
