‘Is Facebook lying’: Rahul Gandhi slams social networking giant for saying ‘Bajrang Dal content not offensive’ | India

New Delhi: A day after Facebook India head Ajit Mohan told a parliamentary panel that Hindu nationalist outfit Bajrang Dal does not post offensive content on the social networking platform, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the tech giant over contradictory opinions by Facebook US.

“Facebook US says Bajrang Dal content is offensive and should be banned. Facebook India tells our Parliamentary panel that Bajrang Dal content is not offensive. Is Facebook lying to India and its Parliament?” Gandhi said on Twitter, while sharing news reports by the Wall Street Journal criticising the right-wing outfit.

Facebook India head Ajit Mohan on Wednesday told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, that the platform’s fact-checking team had not found any such content by Bajrang Dal that necessitated a ban on the organisation.

He was accompanied by Shivnath Thukral, the public policy director of Facebook, during the deposition.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who was also part of the probe panel, questioned Mohan about a recent WSJ report that suggested that the social media platform is reluctant on banning the Hindu nationalist group on its platform due to financial obligations and concerns over the safety of its staff.

The international publication’s report stated that despite an internal assessment that called for a ban on the organisation, Facebook had not cracked down on them due to these reasons.

Responding to queries, the Facebook India head told the panel that the fact check team consultant of the platform had not found any such element in the contents posted by Bajrang Dal that was in violation of its social media policies.

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