The Parliamentary standing committee on information technology has sought permission from Speaker Om Birla to have Facebook whistleblowers depose before it as allegations of the company using algorithms, that allowed the amplification of hate speech in India, lands it in controversy, panel chairperson Shashi Tharoor said on Monday.
“The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology did not exist between September 12 & October 12 when it was officially reconstituted. It had to then adopt its agenda, submit it to the Speaker &have it bulletinized before it could convene any meetings,” the Congress MP wrote on Twitter. “This has just happened & with its agenda official, the Committee will hold its first meetings of the new session on Nov16&17. Under our procedures videoconferencing is not permitted. Testimony in person by witnesses from abroad requires the Speaker’s consent. This is being sought,” he added.
Last month, whistleblower Frances Haugen sent a complaint to the US Securities and Exchange Commission citing internal documents that back some of these allegations. Haugen has already testified before the US Senate and the UK Parliament. India will be the third country where she will testify if permission is granted.
Another former Facebook employee, Sophie Zhang, earlier exposed the company’s partisan policy in removing inauthentic accounts from the social media platform ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections. Zhang is among several former Facebook employees and contractors who have said that the company’s policies and management are leading to harm. In a tweet last month, she had also said she would be willing to testify before the Indian Parliament.
{{/usCountry}}Another former Facebook employee, Sophie Zhang, earlier exposed the company’s partisan policy in removing inauthentic accounts from the social media platform ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections. Zhang is among several former Facebook employees and contractors who have said that the company’s policies and management are leading to harm. In a tweet last month, she had also said she would be willing to testify before the Indian Parliament.
{{/usCountry}}The disclosed documents also mention that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh linked users, groups and pages promote islamophobia and “fear-mongering”, but the company failed to put “forth a nomination or designation” for the group given the “political sensitiveness”. This, however, is not the first time when Facebook has been accused of not censoring BJP-related political content. Last year, the social media firm’s public policy head Ankhi Das had to step down over allegations that Facebook refused to action “hate-speech” by a BJP politician.
The panel then summoned Facebook India officials to explain their stance regarding the allegations of adopting a biased approach. The panel has also heard from several other social media platforms as its agenda include the safety and security of users on the same.