Facebook’s India head Ajit Mohan on Wednesday deposed before the Information Technology Parliamentary Committee where he was questioned about a recent report that the social media giant is reluctant to ban the Bajrang Dal due to concerns over the security of its staff.
Mohan deposed before the panel chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
The panel had called him on the issue of the citizens’ data safety.
Mohan was accompanied by Shivnath Thukral, the public policy director of Facebook. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, along with Tharoor, questioned Mohan about a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on banning the Bajrang Dal on Facebook, sources said.
The WSJ report suggested that despite an internal assessment calling for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, Facebook has not cracked down on the Hindu nationalist group due to financial considerations and concerns over the safety of its employees.
Replying to queries, Mohan suggested to the panel members that the Facebook fact team consultant has so far not found any such element in the content posted by the Bajrang Dal that is violative of its social media policies. Further quizzing him, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey asked if the Bajrang Dal content was not found to be violative of its social media policies, then why the Facebook did not deny the WSJ report and termed it fake.
Last month, a former Facebook employee made startling revelations before the Delhi Assembly’s Committee on Peace and Harmony about the functioning of the platform and its biases towards politically-connected people. Ex-employee Mark Luckie claimed top managerial posts at Facebook are given to those who have good political affiliations.
Facebook Inc is also facing the legal ire in the United States and it could be forced to sell WhatsApp and Instagram after the US Federal Trade Commission and almost all US States have filed lawsuits against the social media platform, claiming it used a “buy or bury” strategy to kill rivals and keep smaller competitors at bay.