The Congress on Saturday reiterated its demand that the government constitute a joint parliamentary committee to investigate what it called an “unholy intimacy” between Facebook’s India operation and the BJP.
The Congress flagged a Time magazine story which, it said, not only confirmed a piece by The Wall Street Journal but also pointed out that WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, also had similar connections with BJP. WhatsApp, which was used by 40 crore Indians had been “compromised and controlled indirectly” by the BJP, the Congress alleged.
Payment platform
The Time piece claimed that current Public Policy director of WhatsApp Shivnath Thukral, in 2013, used to operate websites and Facebook pages for the BJP. It alleged that WhatsApp was going slow on hate speeches on its platform because it wanted to soon launch its own payment platform.
“There needs to be an exhaustive and unbiased investigation by a joint parliamentary committee between the unending links of Facebook employees and the ruling establishment. The investigation must include how Facebook manipulated voter opinion, allowed hate speech and was oblivious to fake news, even when they were in clear violation of their regulations,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said.
The party demanded that WhatsApp must not be granted approvals for its payment operations until an inquiry is complete.
“We also demand that Facebook should make the investigation ordered into conduct of Facebook India public. Also, include the present set of revelations against the leadership of WhatsApp India as part of the inquiry,” Mr. Khera said.
Party in charge of Data Analytics Department Praveen Chakravarty said “Can we turn a blind eye to an American firm trying to disrupt the communal harmony of our country and interfere in our election process. This is not a political issue and these are not allegations levelled by the Congress”.
Letter to Facebook
Party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, in a fresh letter to Facebook, urged them to reveal what steps it is planning to take to investigate these matters and draw a plan of action to ‘stem the rot in your India operation’.
“We will also be pursuing legislative and judicial actions in India to ensure that a foreign company cannot continue to cause social disharmony in our nation for pursuit of private profits,” he said.
