"We're Open, Transparent, Non-Partisan," Says Facebook Amid Political Row

Amid a huge political row over allegations that Facebook did not apply hate speech rules for posts by certain ruling party politicians, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned social media giant today said it was an "open, transparent and non-partisan platform" where people can express themselves freely and detailed its policies on removing hate speech from its platforms in a blog post.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, will hear Facebook representatives on September 2.

"Facebook is and always has been an open, transparent and non-partisan platform where people can express themselves freely," Facebook India vice president and managing director Ajit Mohan said in the post.

"Many questions have been raised specifically about enforcement of our policies around hate speech. There is no place for hate speech on our platform. We have an impartial approach to dealing with content and are strongly governed by our Community Standards. We enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position, party affiliation or religious and cultural belief," Mr Mohan said.

"We have removed and will continue to remove content posted by public figures in India when it violates our Community Standards," he said.

A Wall Street Journal report had alleged Facebook deliberately ignored incendiary content from members of the ruling BJP and right-wing groups even after the issue was flagged internally by Mr Zuckerberg. Quoting unnamed Facebook insiders, the report said a senior Facebook India policy executive, Ankhi Das, had refused to ban a BJP MLA from Telangana despite his divisive posts.

Facebook and its executive Ankhi Das are also facing questions internally from employees

"Many questions have been raised specifically about enforcement of our policies around hate speech. There is no place for hate speech on our platform. We have an impartial approach to dealing with content and are strongly governed by our Community Standards. We enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position, party affiliation or religious and cultural belief," Mr Mohan said.

"Decisions about designating people or groups as 'dangerous individuals or organizations' are different - these are based on a combination of signals and are made by our dangerous organisations team who have deep expertise in terrorism and organised hate and pay attention to global and regional trends.

"Individuals who are designated as 'dangerous' under our policies are removed from our services altogether, and all praise, support and representation of them is taken down, as well. Because the penalty associated with designation is so severe, it's important that our analysis is comprehensive and detailed, and that our process applies consistently and fairly around the world," Mr Mohan said.

Facebook and its executive Ankhi Das are also facing questions internally from employees over how political content is regulated in its biggest market, news agency Reuters reported quoting unnamed people who have direct knowledge of the matter. An open letter written to Facebook's leadership by 11 employees on one internal platform, and seen by Reuters, also demanded that Facebook's "policy team in India (and elsewhere) includes diverse representation."

"It is hard not to feel frustrated and saddened by the incidents reported. We know we're not alone in this. Employees across the company are expressing similar sentiment," said the letter, according to Reuters.

On September 2, besides representatives of Facebook, the parliamentary committee has asked representatives of the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry to be present to discuss safeguarding citizens' rights and preventing misuse of social and online media platforms.