Facebook afraid Bajrang Dal could hurt its staff, business interests; lets it thrive on platform: Report

Facebook was in the eye of controversy in August when the newspaper Wall Street Journal carried a report on an alleged bias in the social media platform’s policies which favoured the ruling BJP due to business interests. It had reported that head of its public policy in India, Ankhi Das, had lobbied in favour of a BJP leader in spite of posting anti-Muslim comments on the platform. Facebook, at the time, had denied the allegations although it went on to ban the politician, while Das quit the company soon after.

Now, another damning report carried by the WSJ on Sunday has said that the right-wing group Bajrang Dal, with ties to the ruling BJP, has been allowed to thrive on the social network out of ‘political and safety considerations’ even though it was tagged by Facebook's security team as a potentially ‘dangerous organisation’ that supports violence against minorities across India.

The latest report by WSJ has cited Facebook's actions in the context of a video by the Bajrang Dal which claimed responsibility for an attack on a church outside New Delhi in June that was allowed to garner 2.5 lakh views, an NDTV report said.

The report says Facebook failed to act against the group because "cracking down on Bajrang Dal might endanger both the company's business prospects and its staff in India".

"Besides risking infuriating India's ruling Hindu nationalist politicians, banning Bajrang Dal might precipitate physical attacks against Facebook personnel or facilities," an internal Facebook report said, according to the newspaper.

Facebook has major interests in India— its largest user base — and has five offices across the country.

"A group of Facebook's employees said in an internal letter and posts on Facebook discussion groups that the presence of Bajrang Dal on its platform, among other organisations, casts doubt on the company's commitment to tackle hate speech in India," it said.