Haugen disclosures: Facebook turns a blind eye to anti-Muslim hate speech in India 

Islamabad, November 12, 2021 (PPI-OT):The disclosures of Frances Haugen, an American data engineer and scientist, product manager, and whistle-blower, have put Facebook under the microscope over ignoring anti-Muslim hate speech in India and selectively enforcing its policies in this regard to avoid blowback from the BJP.

A report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, said that Frances Haugen revealed that Facebook allowed harmful anti-Muslim content stay on the site unchecked to pander the BJP-led Indian government. The documents leaked by the American whistle-blower include a trove of internal company reports on hate speech and misinformation in India.

Frances Haugen further revealed that the RSS-linked Facebook accounts, promote hate speech and anti-Muslim narrative in India, adding, there were a number of dehumanizing posts by RSS users comparing Muslims to ‘pigs’ and ‘dogs’.

The so-called Facebook papers show that the company has been aware of the problems for years, raising questions over whether it has done enough to address these issues. The KMS report said that many digital experts say the Facebook has failed to do so, especially in cases where members of Narendra Modi-led Indian government are involved.

The report deplored that Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter had been promoting violence against Muslims, Dalits and Christians in India. It said that some of the top executive officials of Facebook are very close to the BJP leaders.

The report maintained that Modi and Facebook Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg have become known for having a close relationship and hate speech against Muslims and other marginalized groups in India is on the rise globally.

Citing the Wall Street Journal, the KMS report said that Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly anti-Muslim content and lamented that the Facebook selectively enforced its policies on hate speech to avoid a backlash from the BJP.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org

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