[Facebook's Interference With Electoral Democracy] IT Ministry Probing Alleged Bias Of Facebook India: Govt Tells Lok Sabha [Read Statement]

"Minister for Electronics & Information Technology has written to CEO, Facebook about alleged bias of the platform and to ensure integrity and neutrality of the Facebook and the people working for Facebook," said Sanjay Dhotre, the Minister of State for IT, in the Lok Sabha.

An investigative report published by the Wall Street Journal last month alleged that senior officials of Facebook India supported the incumbent Prime Minister's election campaign in 2014 by turning blind eye towards hate speech propagated by his party on the company's platform.

As the report has started a political storm in the country, CPI MP Subbarayan K inquired about the steps taken by the Government in that regard.

Retorting to the same Mr. Dhotre said in his written response that the Government has taken note of the media reports and the IT Ministry is conducting a probe for the same.

He also informed that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has already taken up the matter with the social media giant.

As reported by The Week, the Standing Committee headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor held discussions with Facebook on September 2.

It is pertinent to note that Congress also wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding to know what steps the organisation had taken to investigate the charges against its Indian leadership.

Responding to the same, Facebook said that it is non-partisan, denounces hate and bigotry in all forms and strives to ensure that its platforms remain a space where people can express themselves freely.

Congress MP KC Venugopal had also raised the issue of Facebook's "blatant bias and dubious in content regulation" in Rajya Sabha today during the Zero Hour.

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