Sources: Facebook didn't apply hate speech rules to at least four flagged individuals and groups in India, showing a pattern of favoritism to Modi's party
Company executive in vital market opposed move to ban controversial politician; some employees allege favoritism to ruling party Tweets: @jeffhorwitz , @seemay , @rmac18 , @tmclaughlin3 , @jeffhorwitz , @mihirssharma , @jason_kint , @aaschapiro , @sanasaeed , @rupasubramanya , @jeffhorwitz , @chandrarsrikant , @jeffhorwitz , @jason_kint , @jeffhorwitz , @shashj , @sivavaid , @william_fitz , @adityakalra , @peegeekay , @preddy85 , @derektmead , @jaskiratsb , @rmac18 , @rmac18 , @johnpaczkowski , @mikeisaac , @newley , @alfunk , and @dseetharaman Tweets: Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz : Facebook has said that it won't bow to political pressure when enforcing its policies on elections integrity and hate speech. In India, the story's not so simple. https://www.wsj.com/... Seema Chishti / @seemay : Disturbing story: Why is Facebook allowing hate speech to stay on its platform despite its team flagging it? https://twitter.com/... @rmac18 : This is Facebook's top policy person in India? https://twitter.com/... Timothy McLaughlin / @tmclaughlin3 : Excellent WSJ story digging into and confirming the long-rumored favoritism Facebook's Ankhi Das has towards members of the BJP and Hindu nationalists. https://twitter.com/... Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz : The same official intervened to prevent Prime Minister Modi's party from being called out for its ties to a misinformation network ahead of the 2019 elections. Instead, Facebook shamed a rival political party which had allegedly done the same thing much less successfully. Mihir Sharma / @mihirssharma : We should ask ourselves: why has the most important story in years about how social media platforms in India have been bent to serve the ruling party emerged from the US media and not ours? https://www.wsj.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : But please don't get distracted, this Facebook ❤️ India story is massive and problematic. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Avi Asher-Schapiro / @aaschapiro : Big story: Facebook hired Ankhi Das to lead its India public policy team—she's a fan of the Prime Minister, & has approvingly shared anti-Muslim posts on social media. She's also intervened to allow ruling party officials to spread hate speech on FB. https://www.wsj.com/... Sana Saeed / @sanasaeed : Reminder: In 2018, Facebook admitted it failed to thwart the spread of anti-Muslim genocidal posts & rhetoric that were used to incite violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar. Now it's allowing the same with India. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Rupa Subramanya / @rupasubramanya : FB's head of public policy India once shared a post calling India's Muslims a “degenerate community”.She said,"[the post]spoke to me...As it should the rest of India".This person is supposedly an impartial arbiter of political and communally charged content on FB. Incredible read https://twitter.com/... Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz : To pacify advertisers and employees upset over hate speech and election meddling, Mark Zuckerberg's said the company will not allow its platform to be used to promote violence. But in India — where lynchings and communal riots have become increasingly common — it has been. Chandra R. Srikanth / @chandrarsrikant : “Ms. Das, whose job includes lobbying India's govt on Facebook's behalf, told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi's party would damage the company's prospects in Facebook's biggest global market by number of users, current & former employees said” https://twitter.com/... Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz : Cracking down on this stuff would cause a rift with the government, Facebook's Indian policy head said internally. In a country that just banned TikTok and is central to Facebook's business plans, realpolitik won out, our sources told us. Jason Kint / @jason_kint : Woah. This is one of the more damning reports I've ever read on Facebook. Yes, that says something. It's a deeply reported must-read on how Facebook's political and PR interests affect public safety. A sick, sick company. https://www.wsj.com/... Jeff Horwitz / @jeffhorwitz : The company's top India policy official — who lobbies the government and oversees content policy decision — blocked the company's safety staff from banning a ruling party politician who they found was a “dangerous individual” that was instigating real world violence. Shashank Joshi / @shashj : “Ms. Das, whose job also includes lobbying India's government on Facebook's behalf, told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi's party would damage the company's business prospects in ... Facebook's biggest global market” https://www.wsj.com/... Siva Vaidhyanathan / @sivavaid : THIS. Do not believe @Facebook executives when they say they care about democracy, human rights, and free speech. https://twitter.com/... William Fitzgerald / @william_fitz : Amazing it took the world so long to find out about FB India's policy head. I had to interact with her a few years ago on some policy issues FB & Google faced in Pakistan & Bangladesh. She'd openly say horrible things about Muslims. Couldn't believe she had the job she had. https://twitter.com/... Aditya Kalra / @adityakalra : A story on India. Facebook. Ankhi Das. One of India's best known in-house corporate lobbyist. https://twitter.com/... Praveen Gopal Krishnan / @peegeekay : WSJ is doing the story that India's news outlets aren't. https://twitter.com/... T. Prashant Reddy / @preddy85 : The Journal calls out the bigotry of Facebook India - it is basically the BJP's B team. https://www.wsj.com/... @derektmead : Common refrain I heard from western platform/media co's in restrictive int'l media markets is “we have to follow local laws + customs” as code for “we can't anger local $$$”. Feels like this framing has influenced US platform moderation debate despite 1A https://www.wsj.com/... Jaskirat Singh Bawa / @jaskiratsb : 🔥 💣 “The current and former Facebook employees said Ms. Ankhi Das's (top policy officer) intervention on behalf of Mr. Singh is part of a broader pattern of favoritism by Facebook toward Mr. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu hard-liners.” https://twitter.com/... @rmac18 : FB's backward bending for the BJP makes me wonder what would have happened if Zuckerberg got his way and got Facebook into China. Imagine what Xi and the CCP would be asking for. Given what's going on in India, it's not hard to see FB giving in because it's good for business. @rmac18 : What happens when Facebook's policy team involves itself in content moderation outside the US? A really important piece from @newley & @JeffHorwitz on how FB allowed an Indian politician to spew hate speech because it was worried about business prospects. https://www.wsj.com/... John Paczkowski / @johnpaczkowski : “Facebook deleted some of Mr. Singh's postings after the Journal asked about them.” https://twitter.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : read how FB's rhetoric around taking down speech that incites real-world violence holds up around the world and politicians outside the US https://twitter.com/... Newley Purnell / @newley : In Facebook posts & public appearances, an Indian politician has said Rohingya Muslim immigrants should be shot, called Muslims traitors & threatened to raze mosques. He's still on FB — despite push by FB staff to ban him. Story w/ @JeffHorwitz: https://www.wsj.com/... Allie Funk / @alfunk : Damning reporting from @WSJ alleging how Facebook favors & capitulates to the BJP so to not “damage the company's business prospects in the country” https://www.wsj.com/... Deepa Seetharaman / @dseetharaman : An Indian politician called Muslims traitors and threatened to raze mosques. That wasn't enough to get him banned from Facebook. Great story from @newley & @JeffHorwitz. https://www.wsj.com/... Expand More For Next Unexpand More For Next
Facebook has said that it won't bow to political pressure when enforcing its policies on elections integrity and hate speech. In India, the story's not so simple. https://www.wsj.com/...
Excellent WSJ story digging into and confirming the long-rumored favoritism Facebook's Ankhi Das has towards members of the BJP and Hindu nationalists. https://twitter.com/...
The same official intervened to prevent Prime Minister Modi's party from being called out for its ties to a misinformation network ahead of the 2019 elections. Instead, Facebook shamed a rival political party which had allegedly done the same thing much less successfully.
We should ask ourselves: why has the most important story in years about how social media platforms in India have been bent to serve the ruling party emerged from the US media and not ours? https://www.wsj.com/...
Big story: Facebook hired Ankhi Das to lead its India public policy team—she's a fan of the Prime Minister, & has approvingly shared anti-Muslim posts on social media. She's also intervened to allow ruling party officials to spread hate speech on FB. https://www.wsj.com/...
Reminder: In 2018, Facebook admitted it failed to thwart the spread of anti-Muslim genocidal posts & rhetoric that were used to incite violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar. Now it's allowing the same with India. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
FB's head of public policy India once shared a post calling India's Muslims a “degenerate community”.She said,"[the post]spoke to me...As it should the rest of India".This person is supposedly an impartial arbiter of political and communally charged content on FB. Incredible read…
To pacify advertisers and employees upset over hate speech and election meddling, Mark Zuckerberg's said the company will not allow its platform to be used to promote violence. But in India — where lynchings and communal riots have become increasingly common — it has been.
“Ms. Das, whose job includes lobbying India's govt on Facebook's behalf, told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi's party would damage the company's prospects in Facebook's biggest global market by number of users, current & former employees said”…
Cracking down on this stuff would cause a rift with the government, Facebook's Indian policy head said internally. In a country that just banned TikTok and is central to Facebook's business plans, realpolitik won out, our sources told us.
Woah. This is one of the more damning reports I've ever read on Facebook. Yes, that says something. It's a deeply reported must-read on how Facebook's political and PR interests affect public safety. A sick, sick company. https://www.wsj.com/...
The company's top India policy official — who lobbies the government and oversees content policy decision — blocked the company's safety staff from banning a ruling party politician who they found was a “dangerous individual” that was instigating real world violence.
“Ms. Das, whose job also includes lobbying India's government on Facebook's behalf, told staff members that punishing violations by politicians from Mr. Modi's party would damage the company's business prospects in ... Facebook's biggest global market” https://www.wsj.com/...
Amazing it took the world so long to find out about FB India's policy head. I had to interact with her a few years ago on some policy issues FB & Google faced in Pakistan & Bangladesh. She'd openly say horrible things about Muslims. Couldn't believe she had the job she had. https…
Common refrain I heard from western platform/media co's in restrictive int'l media markets is “we have to follow local laws + customs” as code for “we can't anger local $$$”. Feels like this framing has influenced US platform moderation debate despite 1A https://www.wsj.com/...
🔥 💣 “The current and former Facebook employees said Ms. Ankhi Das's (top policy officer) intervention on behalf of Mr. Singh is part of a broader pattern of favoritism by Facebook toward Mr. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu hard-liners.” https://twitter.com/...
FB's backward bending for the BJP makes me wonder what would have happened if Zuckerberg got his way and got Facebook into China. Imagine what Xi and the CCP would be asking for. Given what's going on in India, it's not hard to see FB giving in because it's good for business.
What happens when Facebook's policy team involves itself in content moderation outside the US? A really important piece from @newley & @JeffHorwitz on how FB allowed an Indian politician to spew hate speech because it was worried about business prospects. https://www.wsj.com/...
read how FB's rhetoric around taking down speech that incites real-world violence holds up around the world and politicians outside the US https://twitter.com/...
In Facebook posts & public appearances, an Indian politician has said Rohingya Muslim immigrants should be shot, called Muslims traitors & threatened to raze mosques. He's still on FB — despite push by FB staff to ban him. Story w/ @JeffHorwitz: https://www.wsj.com/...
Damning reporting from @WSJ alleging how Facebook favors & capitulates to the BJP so to not “damage the company's business prospects in the country” https://www.wsj.com/...
An Indian politician called Muslims traitors and threatened to raze mosques. That wasn't enough to get him banned from Facebook. Great story from @newley & @JeffHorwitz. https://www.wsj.com/...
""They are the arbiters of the consequences for publishing false or misleading information," said one fact-checker who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions from Facebook." https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...
The 'scout's honor' argument was never convincing, we still need transparency and accountability, meaning independent oversight. Big power requires big check and balances ↘️ https://twitter.com/...
Great/important reporting. One nuance. Facebook prefers press/heat to be focused on this binary issue whether posts should be removed or not. It distracts from FB's decisions ⬆️ on what to provide velocity and reach in its filtering and promotion of content = Its core biz model. …
NEW Facebok story by @RMac18 and I: Employees and fact-checking partners say the company's secret process for removing misinformation strikes against pages has to stop. We also show how PragerU is using fact-checks on its content to raise money on FB: https://www.buzzfeednews.com…
Since 2016, Facebook's execs have repeatedly said they should not be “the arbiter of truth.” FB's tipping of the scales for right-wing publishers, however, show it's very much being an arbiter according to employees and fact-checkers. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ...