Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Tuesday, wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and complained of ‘bias’ against certain ideologies. In a hard-hitting letter, Prasad also said that Facebook staff abused PM Narendra Modi and Cabinet ministers of India and resulted in a political bias of the platform.
“It is problematic when Facebook employees are on record abusing the Prime Minister and senior Cabinet Ministers of India while still working in Facebook India and managing important positions. It is doubly problematic when the bias of individuals becomes an inherent bias of the platform,” Prasad said in a three-page letter to Zuckerberg.
Prasad alleged that ‘facts are being spun by selective leaks’ from the company and said that “I have been informed that in the run-up to 2019 General Elections in India, there was a concerted effort by Facebook India management to not just delete pages or substantially reduce their reach but also offer no recourse or right of appeal to affected people who are supportive of the right-of-centre ideology,” he added.
Prasad’s letter comes on the backdrop of an ongoing controversy over a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report, which cited that Ankhi Das, head of public policy for Facebook in India posted messages showing leaning towards the BJP. The executive also lauded PM Modi as a strongman. The WSJ report cited that the messages were posted on a group created for the company’s employees in India.
The report surfaced amid allegations by the Congress party over ‘BJP bias’ of its India unit.
Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded punishment for the ‘guilty’. “No one, let alone a foreign company, can be allowed to interfere in our nation’s affairs. They must be investigated immediately and when found guilty, punished,” Gandhi tweeted.
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