Why Did Facebook Not Remove BJP-Linked Anti-Muslim Posts? | The Wire
- 3 years ago
Tiger Raja Naval Singh or T. Raja Singh is a member of Telangana state legislative assembly. He is the BJP politician who, according to Facebook’s current and former employees, had violated company’s hate-speech rules and also qualified as ‘dangerous’ – after his off-platform activities were considered.
According to The Wall Street Journal, T. Raja Singh had posted anti-Muslim posts on Facebook. He said Rohingya Muslims immigrants should be shot. He called Muslims traitors and threatened to demolish mosques.
In a video message posted on Twitter, T. Raja Singh has however claimed that he doesn’t have an account on Facebook.
He said – “There are many Facebook accounts open in my name which I am not responsible for…. I can’t stop them all. I am not responsible if anyone likes or shares their posts. My official Facebook account was hacked in 2018 and blocked, which I complained about to the Cyberabad commissioner (of police). I have got no reply on why it was hacked. I have never given any incendiary speech on my official Facebook or Twitter accounts.”
But, when the matter of hate-posts made by T. Raja Singh was raised with Facebook’s top , she reportedly told Facebook staff members that punishing violations by politicians from the BJP would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.
The Wall Street Journal report has put the BJP’s attitude towards hate-speech against a particular community, and its lobbying with Facebook in question.
Facebook’s current and former employees also told the American newspaper that– “Ms. Das’s intervention on behalf of Mr. Singh is part of a broader pattern of favoritism by Facebook toward Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu hard-liners.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Das’s team also took “no action” after BJP politicians posted content accusing Muslims of intentionally spreading the coronavirus.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, T. Raja Singh had posted anti-Muslim posts on Facebook. He said Rohingya Muslims immigrants should be shot. He called Muslims traitors and threatened to demolish mosques.
In a video message posted on Twitter, T. Raja Singh has however claimed that he doesn’t have an account on Facebook.
He said – “There are many Facebook accounts open in my name which I am not responsible for…. I can’t stop them all. I am not responsible if anyone likes or shares their posts. My official Facebook account was hacked in 2018 and blocked, which I complained about to the Cyberabad commissioner (of police). I have got no reply on why it was hacked. I have never given any incendiary speech on my official Facebook or Twitter accounts.”
But, when the matter of hate-posts made by T. Raja Singh was raised with Facebook’s top , she reportedly told Facebook staff members that punishing violations by politicians from the BJP would damage the company’s business prospects in the country.
The Wall Street Journal report has put the BJP’s attitude towards hate-speech against a particular community, and its lobbying with Facebook in question.
Facebook’s current and former employees also told the American newspaper that– “Ms. Das’s intervention on behalf of Mr. Singh is part of a broader pattern of favoritism by Facebook toward Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu hard-liners.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Das’s team also took “no action” after BJP politicians posted content accusing Muslims of intentionally spreading the coronavirus.
Like our work? Click here to support The Wire: https://thewire.in/support
The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. As a publication, The Wire will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.
We publish in four different languages!
For English, visit www.thewire.in
for Hindi: http://thewirehindi.com/
for Urdu: http://thewireurdu.com
for Marathi: https://marathi.thewire.in
If you are a young writer or a creator, you can submit articles, essays, photos, poetry – anything that’s straight out of your imagination – to LiveWire, The Wire’s portal for the young, by the young. https://livewire.thewire.in/
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