IT minister writes to Zuckerberg, accuses FB India team of political bias

Ravi Shankar Prasad alleges Facebook India team ‘impinged’ on beliefs of Indians

Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg raising “serious concerns” regarding the social media platform becoming a tool to create social disturbances in the country.

The letter comes in the wake of allegations against Facebook that it is biased towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In the letter, Prasad accused the California-headquartered company of deleting Facebook pages that supported right-of-centre ideology in the run-up to the 2019 elections and not offering right of appeal against such action. Prasad said that top management in Facebook India team, from managing director to other senior officials, was dominated by people having a particular political ideology referring to media reports. The political biases of these individuals, according to Prasad, “impinged” on the freedom of speech of millions of people.

“The spate of recent anonymous, source-based reports is nothing but an internal power struggle within your company for an ideological hegemony,” Prasad wrote in the letter. “No other logic can explain how facts are being spun by the selective leaks from within your company to portray an alternate reality.” Referring to recent instances in which the social media platform was used to incite violence, Prasad accused Facebook of inaction. The IT minister said that the social media site was used by “anarchic and radical elements” whose sole aim was to destroy social order by recruiting and assembling people for violence.