Over 40 NGOs and organisations have written an open letter to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg, asking them to address Facebook India’s alleged bias and failure to address dangerous content in the country.
In the letter dated September 9, the entities said Facebook must ensure the independence and thoroughness of an ongoing human rights audit of its India operations, encompassing caste, religious bias and elections. The company must place its India public policy director Ankhi Das on a leave of absence immediately following reports of her role in Facebook’s “continued failure” to enforce its policies in India.
“We call on you to ensure that the ongoing human rights audit of Facebook India reported by TIME Magazine is overseen by high level staff in your Menlo Park office… and put head of public policy Ankhi Das on leave pending completion of the audit. The need to act is urgent — lives are at stake,” they said in the letter.
The organisations include Action Center on Race and The Economy, ad.watch, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Dangerous Speech Project, Aspiration Tech, Indian American Muslim Council, Media Justice, Fight for the Future and Sakhi for South Asian Women.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Das opposed applying hate speech rules to posts by BJP leader T Raja Singh and three other BJP leaders and groups flagged internally for promoting violence. TIME magazine reported that Facebook had commissioned an independent report on its impact on human rights in India to evaluate its role in spreading hate speech and incitement to violence.
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