Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy, India, South & Central Asia at Facebook today filed a complaint at Delhi Police’s cyber cell unit over violent life threats she has been receiving after her personal details were disclosed online.
Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy, India, South & Central Asia, Facebook files a complaint at Cyber Cell Unit, Delhi against a number of people, for issuing violent life threats through online posting/publishing of content.
— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2020
Das is facing criticism for alleged inaction against anti-Muslim posts by Facebook profiles linked to Bhartiya Janata Party. She has now filed a complaint at Cyber Cell Unit, Delhi Police against several people who issued violent life threats against her on social media platforms.
This complaint on death threats come hours after Wayanad MP and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi posted a tweet supporting the claims made by the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is pro-BJP.
BJP & RSS control Facebook & Whatsapp in India.
They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate.
Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook. pic.twitter.com/Y29uCQjSRP
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 16, 2020
Ankhi Das Gets Violent Threats
As per information shared by India Today’s Journalist Aishwarya Paliwal, Ankhi Das filed a complaint and requested Delhi Police to register FIR under “Sections 354A, 499, 500, 506, 507, and 509 among other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code for posting violent threats to her life and body, making sexually coloured remarks and defaming her.”
Das named several users from Facebook and Twitter including Congress supporter Saket Gokhle and Arshad Khan National Coordinator, Social Media, NSUI. She said that after the article published by the Wall Street Journal in which they alleged Facebook employees are not penalising hate speech by BJP linked accounts, she has been under attack. She alleged that she had received multiple threats to her life and body, which made her extremely disturbed.
Some users posted her photo along with some other personal details that further added to her worries. She urged Police to take urgent action against people threatening her to “prevent the commission of further serious offences against her.”
What Is The Case?
WSJ on 14th August posted an article in which they alleged that higher officials in Facebook India are showing biased towards political and religious hate comments made by the users. The media house said that Facebook is not taking any action against the accounts that are linked to BJP.
The article gave away to the opposition party to attack Facebook and the BJP-led government at the centre. Some users, including Nidhi, ex-journalist NDTV, left Facebook to mark protest.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said in a tweet that he would raise the issue in front of the Parliamentary Committee and said, “Our Parliamentary committee will, in the normal course, consider testimony under the topic “Safeguarding citizens’ rights & prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms”. The subject is squarely within the IT Cmt’s mandate & Facebook has been summoned in the past.”
