The INDIA Alliance has written letters to social media giants Meta and Alphabet, expressing their concerns regarding the social media platforms’ perceived contribution to social discord in India.
These letters were addressed individually to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet. While Meta owns social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, Alphabet is the parent company of Google and YouTube.
The letter comes days after The Washington Post alleged in an editorial published on October 8 that social media platforms in India have “become conveyor belts for hate” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Further, we have data that shows algorithmic moderation and suppression of Opposition leaders’ content on your platform while also promoting ruling party content,” read INDIA’s letter to Zuckerberg.
“Such blatant partisanship and bias towards one political formation by a private foreign company is tantamount to interfering in India’s democracy, one that we in the INDIA alliance will not take lightly,” it added.
The letter took note of an article published by The Washington Post on September 26 titled “Under India’s pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thrive”.
Citing WP report, the letter claimed the newspaper carried evidence of what it called blatant partisanship by Facebook and Google’s executives towards the government.
“It is very clear from these exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India. Further, we have data that shows algorithmic moderation and suppression of Opposition leaders’ content on your platform while also promoting ruling party content,” it said.
“In light of the upcoming national elections in 2024, it is our earnest and urgent plea to you to consider these facts seriously and ensure immediately that Meta’s operations in India remain neutral,” it added.
In a similar letter addressed to Pichai, the INDIA alliance referred to an article in The Washington Post titled “He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award”.
The letter said the article provides details of how this “vile, communally divisive propaganda is carried out using YouTube by BJP members and supporters.”
