Ankhi Das – Facebook’s top public-policy executive in India has filed a legal complaint after receiving death threats on social media in India.
In her complaint to the Delhi Police, Ankhi Das has contended that she has been receiving politically motivated death threats over social media by some individuals.
“I am extremely disturbed by the relentless harassment meted out to me,” she was quoted saying by ‘The Hindu’ newspaper of India.
The development comes as earlier, Wall Street Journal (WSJ) – a widely respected US media outlet, in its report had revealed that Facebook had intentionally abstained from keeping a check on hate speech made by various Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party leaders and fake-news that benefitted the Narendra Modi led BJP government in India.
The article highlighted that the company abstained from taking action against BJP leaders and government officials involved in hate speech and spreading fake news over fears of ‘damaging the company’s business prospects in the country’.
Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi took to social media to highlight the unchecked and illegal influence of BJP and RSS on Facebook and WhatsApp.
“BJP & RSS control Facebook & WhatsApp in India. They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate,” he tweeted.
The article cited refusal of Ankhi Das to execute Facebook’s standard hate speech violation measures against BJP member T. Raja Singh.
Facebook techies responsible for hate speech vigilance on the platform recommended the implementation of company’s standard hate speech violation penalties.
The tech giant has been facing severe criticism over its politically motivated ‘compromise’ over inciting remarks and hate speech by BJP members who have hundreds and thousands of followers and which in fact pose serious threat to Muslims in the country.
