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The story behind the story

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Internal postings show Ankhi Das, a top Facebook exec in India, supported “strongman” Modi's party before he was elected in 2014 and disparaged its main rival

and never spoke up about blatant election misconduct on the platform. This is FB India, but it matters here, too. https://www.wsj.com/... Sheera Frenkel / @sheeraf : Reminder: What happens with Facebook abroad is often an amped-up version of what the company is doing in the US. https://twitter.com/... Will Oremus / @willoremus : Facebook's top policy exec in India strongly backed the ruling Hindu nationalist party and approvingly shared an essay calling Muslims “degenerate.” This should be immediately disqualifying. Facebook calls it “out of context,” keeps her in the role. https://www.wsj.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : great piece amazing that this person still has a job https://www.wsj.com/... Nadim Hossain / @nadimhossain : @MikeIsaac Incredible. Imagine if a US employee had shared a similar post regarding African-Americans. Jaw dropped that Facebook's Andy Stone defended her staunchly in the article. https://twitter.com/... Jason Goldman / @goldman : @MikeIsaac This is wild shit. Authoritarianism and nationalism are on the rise around the world. And I guess so is Facebook? Siva Vaidhyanathan / @sivavaid : Next time someone at @Facebook tries to tell you the company is committed to supporting democracy, show them this article. https://twitter.com/... @iscrew : Facebook India's executive Ankhi Das: “It's taken 30 years of grassroots work to rid India of state socialism finally,” she wrote on the defeat of Congress. On Modi: “We lit a fire to his social media campaign” “rest is history” https://www.wsj.com/... Lindsey Barrett / @lam_barrett : so facebook has more than one joel kaplan, then https://twitter.com/... Newley Purnell / @newley : New: Facebook exec center of political storm in India made internal postings for years detailing support for Hindu nationalist party & disparaging its rival. Some staff saw as conflicting w/ FB's pledge to remain neutral in elex. Latest w/ @JeffHorwitz: https://www.wsj.com/... https://twitter.com/... Shama Mohamed / @drshamamohd : Facebook's Ankhi Das not only favoured BJP & PM Modi on multiple instances, she has disparaged @INCIndia in conversations with the company's employees. She needs to be sacked & an international probe must be launched into Facebook's interference in India's democratic process. https://twitter.com/... Bhupendra Chaubey / @bhupendrachaube : Just where is this story headed ?? Do we know enough about what's going on in FB?? Some detailed scrutiny certainly need of the hour. https://twitter.com/... Dr P Thiaga Rajan / @ptrmadurai : Ankhi Das is just the Indian clone of the Global stereotype carefully selected and promoted to top posts at Facebook by Zuckerberg worldwide, from Menlo Park outwards - Profits at ALL costs is embedded in the organizational culture (even if promoting hate is collateral damage) https://twitter.com/... @abbakkahypatia : I've been saying this for a long time. Modi and his coterie/supporters of elite UC Indians have spent billions of rupees to win. And of course they won. https://twitter.com/... Nidhi Razdan / @nidhi : Facebook exec, Ankhi Das, posted on Modi victory in 2014:"We lit a fire to his social media campaign,the rest is history. It's taken 30 years of grassroots work to rid India of state socialism finally" ⁦@JeffHorwitz⁩ ⁦@newley⁩ on FB's biases https://www.wsj.com/... Subir Sinha / @pomogandhi : In country after country, @Facebook has been found to be on the side of violent majoritarian and authoritarian parties and leaders. That seems to be its business model. https://twitter.com/... Craig Silverman / @craigsilverman : The WSJ has another story showing Facebook's top policy exec in India long favored Modi's party. FB declined to enforce against BJP when it skirted ad transparency rules, and didn't call BJP out for running networks of fake pages. So much for neutrality: https://www.wsj.com/... David Kaye / @davidakaye : @benyt @MikeIsaac while that's true, it can be overstated. the platforms are so popular in some environments that govt action against them can also have a political cost. Sanjay Jha / @jhasanjay : This is a damning expose of Ankhi Das. You are entitled to your ideological preferences but Facebook stands damaged for allowing her to subvert corporate policy. Worse, she allowed hate-speeches. #MarkZuckerberg owes India an explanation, not just the Congress. Game up! https://twitter.com/... Ben Smith / @benyt : @MikeIsaac Amazing you think it's amazing! Good relations with authoritarian leaning presidents are incredibly important Niha Masih / @nihamasih : Incredible, dogged reporting by @JeffHorwitz and @newley on Facebook actions that show they favored the ruling political party in India. These actions directly undermine democracy and are a matter of concern globally. https://twitter.com/... Saket Gokhale / @saketgokhale : In yet another superb investigation, the @WSJ lays bare the links between Ankhi Das at Facebook India & the BJP. Ankhi Das literally acted as an agent of the BJP & has also openly admitted to her “bias towards Modi”. Excerpts in the images. Great work @JeffHorwitz & @newley! https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... @koush : @MikeIsaac The Joel Kaplan of Facebook India. These positions seem to be only filled with right wing ideologues. Arvind Gunasekar / @arvindgunasekar : In one of the messages, Ankhi Das, head of public policy in the country, posted the day before Narendra Modi swept to victory in India's 2014 national elections: “We lit a fire to his social media campaign and the rest is of course history.” https://twitter.com/... Venkat Ananth / @venkatananth : Whoa! The bit about the 2019 elections is damning, among other things in this story. https://twitter.com/... Arvind Gunasekar / @arvindgunasekar : Facebook Executive Supported India's Modi, Disparaged Opposition in Internal Messages - WSJ “Don't diminish him (Modi) by comparing him with INC. Ah well—let my bias not show!!!” https://www.wsj.com/... @slpng_giants : To protect their dominance, @facebook will suck up to whoever happens to be in power. As a primary disseminatior of information for the world, this should concern everyone of any political persuasion. https://twitter.com/... Eliot Brown / @eliotwb : This is a pretty jaw dropping story on Facebook's theoretically neutral policy chief guiding the social network in the world's most populous democracy https://www.wsj.com/...

Wall Street Journal

Discussion

  • @jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
    A top FB policy exec openly detailed her efforts to hep a favored political party win and her disdain for its opponents. FB didn't stop her — and never spoke up about blatant election misconduct on the platform. This is FB India, but it matters here, too. https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
    Reminder: What happens with Facebook abroad is often an amped-up version of what the company is doing in the US. https://twitter.com/...
  • @willoremus Will Oremus on x
    Facebook's top policy exec in India strongly backed the ruling Hindu nationalist party and approvingly shared an essay calling Muslims “degenerate.” This should be immediately disqualifying. Facebook calls it “out of context,” keeps her in the role. https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @mikeisaac Rat King on x
    great piece amazing that this person still has a job https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @nadimhossain Nadim Hossain on x
    @MikeIsaac Incredible. Imagine if a US employee had shared a similar post regarding African-Americans. Jaw dropped that Facebook's Andy Stone defended her staunchly in the article. https://twitter.com/...
  • @goldman Jason Goldman on x
    @MikeIsaac This is wild shit. Authoritarianism and nationalism are on the rise around the world. And I guess so is Facebook?
  • @sivavaid Siva Vaidhyanathan on x
    Next time someone at @Facebook tries to tell you the company is committed to supporting democracy, show them this article. https://twitter.com/...
  • @iscrew @iscrew on x
    Facebook India's executive Ankhi Das: “It's taken 30 years of grassroots work to rid India of state socialism finally,” she wrote on the defeat of Congress. On Modi: “We lit a fire to his social media campaign” “rest is history” https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @lam_barrett Lindsey Barrett on x
    so facebook has more than one joel kaplan, then https://twitter.com/...
  • @newley Newley Purnell on x
    New: Facebook exec center of political storm in India made internal postings for years detailing support for Hindu nationalist party & disparaging its rival. Some staff saw as conflicting w/ FB's pledge to remain neutral in elex. Latest w/ @JeffHorwitz: https://www.wsj.com/... ht…
  • @drshamamohd Shama Mohamed on x
    Facebook's Ankhi Das not only favoured BJP & PM Modi on multiple instances, she has disparaged @INCIndia in conversations with the company's employees. She needs to be sacked & an international probe must be launched into Facebook's interference in India's democratic process. htt…
  • @bhupendrachaube Bhupendra Chaubey on x
    Just where is this story headed ?? Do we know enough about what's going on in FB?? Some detailed scrutiny certainly need of the hour. https://twitter.com/...
  • @ptrmadurai Dr P Thiaga Rajan on x
    Ankhi Das is just the Indian clone of the Global stereotype carefully selected and promoted to top posts at Facebook by Zuckerberg worldwide, from Menlo Park outwards - Profits at ALL costs is embedded in the organizational culture (even if promoting hate is collateral damage) ht…
  • @abbakkahypatia @abbakkahypatia on x
    I've been saying this for a long time. Modi and his coterie/supporters of elite UC Indians have spent billions of rupees to win. And of course they won. https://twitter.com/...
  • @nidhi Nidhi Razdan on x
    Facebook exec, Ankhi Das, posted on Modi victory in 2014:"We lit a fire to his social media campaign,the rest is history. It's taken 30 years of grassroots work to rid India of state socialism finally" ⁦@JeffHorwitz⁩ ⁦@newley⁩ on FB's biases https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @pomogandhi Subir Sinha on x
    In country after country, @Facebook has been found to be on the side of violent majoritarian and authoritarian parties and leaders. That seems to be its business model. https://twitter.com/...
  • @craigsilverman Craig Silverman on x
    The WSJ has another story showing Facebook's top policy exec in India long favored Modi's party. FB declined to enforce against BJP when it skirted ad transparency rules, and didn't call BJP out for running networks of fake pages. So much for neutrality: https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @davidakaye David Kaye on x
    @benyt @MikeIsaac while that's true, it can be overstated. the platforms are so popular in some environments that govt action against them can also have a political cost.
  • @jhasanjay Sanjay Jha on x
    This is a damning expose of Ankhi Das. You are entitled to your ideological preferences but Facebook stands damaged for allowing her to subvert corporate policy. Worse, she allowed hate-speeches. #MarkZuckerberg owes India an explanation, not just the Congress. Game up! https://t…
  • @benyt Ben Smith on x
    @MikeIsaac Amazing you think it's amazing! Good relations with authoritarian leaning presidents are incredibly important
  • @nihamasih Niha Masih on x
    Incredible, dogged reporting by @JeffHorwitz and @newley on Facebook actions that show they favored the ruling political party in India. These actions directly undermine democracy and are a matter of concern globally. https://twitter.com/...
  • @saketgokhale Saket Gokhale on x
    In yet another superb investigation, the @WSJ lays bare the links between Ankhi Das at Facebook India & the BJP. Ankhi Das literally acted as an agent of the BJP & has also openly admitted to her “bias towards Modi”. Excerpts in the images. Great work @JeffHorwitz & @newley! http…
  • @koush @koush on x
    @MikeIsaac The Joel Kaplan of Facebook India. These positions seem to be only filled with right wing ideologues.
  • @arvindgunasekar Arvind Gunasekar on x
    In one of the messages, Ankhi Das, head of public policy in the country, posted the day before Narendra Modi swept to victory in India's 2014 national elections: “We lit a fire to his social media campaign and the rest is of course history.” https://twitter.com/...
  • @venkatananth Venkat Ananth on x
    Whoa! The bit about the 2019 elections is damning, among other things in this story. https://twitter.com/...
  • @arvindgunasekar Arvind Gunasekar on x
    Facebook Executive Supported India's Modi, Disparaged Opposition in Internal Messages - WSJ “Don't diminish him (Modi) by comparing him with INC. Ah well—let my bias not show!!!” https://www.wsj.com/...
  • @slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
    To protect their dominance, @facebook will suck up to whoever happens to be in power. As a primary disseminatior of information for the world, this should concern everyone of any political persuasion. https://twitter.com/...
  • @eliotwb Eliot Brown on x
    This is a pretty jaw dropping story on Facebook's theoretically neutral policy chief guiding the social network in the world's most populous democracy https://www.wsj.com/...