Delhi Assembly panel to summon Facebook officials over hate content

The Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee said it has received multiple complaints against officials of Facebook for their alleged deliberate inaction to contain hateful content in India.

Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee will send summons to Facebook officials including its India executive Ankhi Das following complaints of not acting against hateful content.

Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chopra heads the Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee.(ANI)

“Summons set to be sent for the appearance of the concerned officials of Facebook including Ankhi Das. The Committee will convene its meeting this week to initiate the proceedings,” the committee said according to ANI.

“The committee has received multiple complaints addressed to its chairman Raghav Chadha against the officials of Facebook for their alleged deliberate and intentional inaction to contain hateful content in India,” it said.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s Director, Public Policy, India, South and Central Asia, Ankhi Das has filed a complaint with Delhi Police, alleging that she has been receiving “violent threats to her life”, officials said on Monday.

In her complaint on Sunday, Das alleged that several people were issuing “threats, making sexually coloured remarks and defaming her” through online posts.

Over the weekend, Facebook has come under attack from the BJP and the Congress. While BJP accused the social media platform of censoring nationalist voices, opposition Congress cited a Wall Street Journal report that alleged that Facebook’s content policies favour the BJP.