Always Been Open, Transparent & Non-Partisan: Facebook India Chief Ajit Mohan Over 'Hate Speech' Controversy

Amid the ongoing controversy, Shashi Tharoor led parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology has summoned Facebook on September 2.

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Amid the ongoing political row over Facebook's alleged attempt of deliberately ignoring 'hate -speech' content from right-wing leaders, the India unit of the social media platform has issued a statement saying it has always been an "open, transparent and non-partisan platform." EXPLAINED | From WSJ Revelations To Blame Games Between BJP-Congress; All About Facebook Hate Speech Controversy Refuting the allegations, Facebook India vice-president and managing director Ajit Mohan in a blog post said, "Over the last few days, we have been accused of bias in the way we enforce our policies. We take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form." Mohan reportedly said that Facebook is and has always been an open, transparent and non-partisan platform where people can express themselves freely. He added that the social networking firm has an impartial approach to dealing with content and is strongly governed by its Community Standards. The defensive statement has come after a US based publication Wall Street Journal through its report alleged that Facebook favoured India's ruling party BJP to influence the electorate by deliberately ignoring 'hate -speech' content from right-wing leaders. The article claimed that Facebook's top executive in India - Ankhi Das allegedly opposed the application of hate-speech rules to members of the ruling BJP. Meanwhile, the Shashi Tharoor led parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology has summoned Facebook on September 2. The agenda of the committee's September 2 meeting states that to "hear the views of the representatives of Facebook on the subject 'Safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space".