In Facebook Row, Twitter War Between Congress's Manish Tewari And BJP

The political row over Facebook today sprouted new allegations with a BJP leader accusing Congress MP Manish Tewari of using US lobbyists based on a letter he wrote to the social networking giant on Tuesday. In response, Manish Tewari said the fact that his letter was accessed and tweeted by the BJP's Amit Malviya proved collusion between "certain elements at Facebook and certain elements in the BJP."

A tweet war between Manish Tewari and Amit Malviya, the chief of the BJP's IT cell, added a new layer to the massive political fight that has erupted over a report in the Wall Street Journal that claims that Facebook deliberately ignored content from members of the ruling BJP and right-wing voices that was "flagged internally".

It started with Mr Malviya tweeting the Congress MP's letter to Facebook asking for a response to the Wall Street Journal article. He highlighted a para of the letter that urged Facebook officials to contact "my senior policy adviser Dr Bharat Gopalaswamy", a resident of Washington "for any additional thoughts or information that you may want to add in this context".

The BJP leader wrote: "Manish Tewari's letter to Facebook opens up a Pandora's box. This is a serious revelation and troublesome on multiple grounds. Can Indian MPs hire lobbyists in US masquerading as advisors? Whose interests do these US based lobbyists serve when they advise Congress MP Manish Tewari?"

Mr Malviya said Bharat Gopalaswamy served as the director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council, "which controls and guides Facebook's effort in dealing with political propaganda". He added,  "To operate behind closed doors through quiet negotiations by using array of tactics to shape public opinion, the Indian National Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi and her son, has touched a new low in the politics."

Mr Tewari retorted: "Nothing demonstrates alleged collusion between certain elements of Facebook and certain elements in BJP than tweeting of my letter to Facebook Senior Management sent -18th August 2020 in the evening by Amit Malviya."

The Congress lawmaker said Bharat Gopalaswamy "is an Indian" and advised him pro-bono on policy issues. "I am surprised that Amit Malviya, who comes from a party that tomtoms NRIs and organizes massive events abroad like Howdy Modi would like to paint my taking advice from a gentleman of Indian Origin pro-bono as blasphemy. He should first answer who in Facebook management gave him my email addressed to their senior management asking valid question without it being acknowledged by Facebook."