‘We Are Non-Partisan, We Denounce Hate’: Facebook in Reply to Cong

Congress accused Facebook of ‘interfering in India’s electoral democracy’.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Representation image.

(Image: Erum Gour/Altered by The Quint)

On Thursday, 3 September, Facebook in a reply to a letter written by Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, said that the social media giant takes allegations of bias seriously and denounces hate and bigotry in all forms.

“We are non-partisan & strive to ensure our platforms remain a space where people express themselves freely. We take allegations of bias seriously & denounce hate & bigotry in all forms,” Neil Potts, Facebook’s Trust and Safety Director, wrote in the letter.

Facebook Letter to the Congress

Facebook Letter to the Congress

The response comes after Congress wrote two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, asking him what specific steps have been taken by Facebook to investigate the charges against its ‘hate speech operations’ in India.

Venugopal accused Facebook of ‘interfering in India’s electoral democracy.’

“Together, we have a non-partisan approach in dealing with content and have designed systems to ensure we are enforcing policies globally without regard for anyone’s past political positions, party affiliation, or beliefs,” Potts stated in the letter, saying that its public policy team was a diverse one with people from across the political spectrum.

Following this, AICC data analytics department chief Praveen Chakravarty, in a press statement, mentioned that “the Congress party will await further concrete action from the global leadership of Facebook and demonstration of specific corrective measures being undertaken in Facebook & WhatsApp India.”

Congress Press Statement on Facebook Response