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Facebook’s India policy chief quits after hate speech claims

Agence France-Presse

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Facebook’s India policy chief quits after hate speech claims

(FILES) In this file illustration photo taken on March 25, 2020, a Facebook app logo is displayed on a smartphone in Arlington, Virginia. - Facebook said it removed campaign ads for President Donald Trump which appeared to stoke fear by claiming that his Democratic rival Joe Biden would pose threats by allowing more immigration. The move late September 30, 2020 marked the latest by the leading social network seeking to curb misinformation while seeking to steer clear of political involvement. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)

AFP

The resignation comes amid allegations that the policy chief Ankhi Das refused to take down anti-Muslim comments by a Hindu nationalist lawmaker

Facebook’s top India public policy executive, who was at the center of a row over the alleged failure to address hate speech on the platform, has quit, the social media giant said Wednesday, October 28.

The network sparked a political storm in India after the Wall Street Journal reported in August that policy chief Ankhi Das refused to take down anti-Muslim comments by a Hindu nationalist lawmaker as it could damage the firm’s business interests.

India is the biggest market for the US-based company and its messaging service WhatsApp in terms of users, and the firm is under pressure worldwide over the policing of hate speech.

Ajit Mohan, Facebook India’s managing director, said Das was leaving Facebook “to pursue her interest in public service”.

“Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last nine years,” Mohan said in a statement.

Mohan in September rejected allegations the Silicon Valley firm failed to act on hate speech over business concerns, telling the Times of India that the company was doing everything possible to “keep all kinds of harm away from the platform”.

He said Das was not responsible for any decisions governing hate speech and that the public policy team was separate from the content policy team that enforces such decisions.

More than 40 rights groups worldwide had written a letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in September demanding that Das be sidelined, pending the outcome of a civil rights audit. – Rappler.com

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