Facebook Denies WSJ Claims Of Ankhi Das Favouring BJP During 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

A day after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article pointing at several internal posts by Facebook India's public policy head Ankhi Das between 2012 and 2014, also the time when the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured victory, Facebook said these posts "are being taken out of context."

According to the WSJ article, Das, in October 2012 wrote, "Success in our Gujarat Campaign," in connection with the training of Narendra Modi' team and also noting that the campaign was about to reach a million fans on the social media platform.

As per the article, the day before PM Modi and the BJP won the2014 general elections, Das wrote, "We lit a fire to his social media campaign and the rest is of course history."

In a message shared on a group created for Facebook's employees in India, she also referred to PM Modi as 'George W. Bush of India' and referred to him as the "strongman" who brought an end to the Congress's rule.

Facebook offered training to several political parties in India on ways to use the platform to gather supporters. Modi's 2012 campaign as chief minister of Gujarat was also included in this campaign.

Another WSJ article published on 14 August had claimed that Facebook chose to ignore hate speech made by Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders on its platform. The report alleged that Das, "opposed applying hate-speech rules" to at least four individuals and groups linked with the BJP even though they were "flagged internally for promoting or participating in violence".

Also Read: 'No Place For Hate Speech, Denounce Bigotry In Every Form': Facebook India Head Amid Political Row