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| Facebook ignores hate speech to appease the Indian government |
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Facebook tolerates hate speech by ruling leader Paradia Yanta (BJP) in order to satisfy the Indian government: “Hate speech on Facebook rules India and political conflict.”
India is one of the main markets for Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook and Google. However, given that the BJP has an excellent understanding of how these companies operate, this is a political issue.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been called into parliamentary committees in the past to question the platform's so-called left-wing orientation.
Usually these platforms take a lot of action before considering the position leading to the BJP leader even if they are violating the content policy.
Anki Das, Facebook's director of public policy for India, has banned the host from removing the posts, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. He did not disclose that the company had removed some of the pages held by the BJP.
The newspaper's report said Facebook officials had flagged BJP leader Raja Singh, saying Muslim Rohingya migrants should be killed.
However, she did step in and take no action on the account. Singh is still active on Facebook and Instagram.
The report also indicated that Anantkumar Hegde, another leader of the People's Party, published cartoons and stories alleging that Muslims were spreading the Coronavirus based on what he called "Corona Jihad."
When Twitter suspended its account, Facebook only deleted some of its posts last week, but its account is still valid on Facebook.
India has a precise history. Mass unrest occurred in Mumbai in 1993, in Gujarat in 2002 and Delhi this year. Hundreds have been killed in the unrest.
These posts can influence the initiation of events that Facebook may not have control of.
"We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence, and we apply these guidelines around the world, regardless of political position or party affiliation," the company said in a statement.
She added, "We know there is still a lot to be done, but we are making progress in implementation and review our process regularly to ensure fairness and accuracy."