INDIA Alliance Demands Neutrality from Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube in Aiding Communal Hatred

The INDIA Alliance has sent a strongly worded letter to Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, CEOs of Google and Meta Platforms, respectively, accusing their platforms YouTube, Facebook, and WhatsApp of promoting communal hatred. Leaders from various political parties within the INDIA bloc signed the letter, which also called for the platforms to remain impartial during the upcoming elections. The letter was prompted by the Washington Post’s report on the alleged favoritism of Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube towards the ruling BJP party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, while sharing a digital copy of the letter in X, said: “Letter from INDIA parties to @Facebook Mr. Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) citing @washingtonpost’s in-depth investigations that Meta is guilty of social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India”.

The letter was signed by several veteran leaders of INDIA alliance including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, Hemant Soren, TR Baalu, Akhilesh Yadav, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and others.

It wrote a similar letter to Pichai, whose company Google owns YouTube.

INDIA Alliance accuses Facebook and WhatsApp of spreading hate

You can find the entire letter below:

Dear Mr Zuckerberg,

We are writing on behalf of India’s National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). It is an alliance of 28 Indian political parties representing a united opposition coalition. We are the ruling union in 11 states and represent almost half of all Indian voters.

You may be aware of the recent revelations by the Washington Post about the role of WhatsApp and Facebook in supporting the communal hate campaign of the ruling BJP. In particular, the article refers to the details of how BJP members and supporters are carrying out this vicious, communally divisive propaganda through WhatsApp groups.

In another article titled “Under pressure from India, Facebook allowed propaganda and hate speech to flourish”, the Post has laid out with evidence the blatant bias of Facebook India’s leaders towards the ruling clemency. This was well known to us in the opposition for a long time and we have even brought it up several times before.

It is very clear from these exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is guilty of fomenting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India. Additionally, we have data that shows the algorithmic moderation and suppression of opposition leaders’ content on your platform while promoting the ruling party’s content.

Such blatant partisanship and targeting of one political formation by a private foreign company amounts to an interference in Indian democracy which we at the INDIA Alliance do not take lightly.

In the light of the national elections to be held in 2024, we sincerely and urgently request you to seriously consider these facts and immediately ensure that Meta’s activities in India remain neutral and are not used knowingly or unwittingly to create social unrest or distort India’s highly valued values. democratic ideals.

It is ironic that we are writing this letter on the birth month anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest champion of non-violence and social harmony in history. We are sure that you and Meta also long for the harmonious India that the Mahatma wished for. We look forward to your full cooperation in this matter.

Thank you,

Signed on behalf of the National Developmental Inclusive Alliance of India (INDIA):

(KC Venugopal)

General Secretary (organization)

Indian National Congress

Sender:

1. Sh. Mallikarjun Kharge, President, Indian National Congress 2. Sh. Rahul Gandhi, former president of the Indian National Congress

3. Sh. Sharad Pawar, President of the Nationalist Congress Party

4. Shri Uddhav Thackeray, President, Shiv Sena (UBT)

5. Sh. Hemant Soren, Chief Minister, Jharkhand

6. Sh. TR Baalu, Member of Parliament and leader of the DMK party in Parliament

7. Sh. Lalan Singh, President, Janta Dal (United)

8. Sh. Akhilesh Yadav, President, Samajwadi Party

9. Sh. Tejaswi Yadav, President, Rashtriya Janta Dal

10. Sh. Derek O’Brian, Member of Parliament and Leader, All India Trinamool Congress

11. Sh. Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

12. Sh. D Raja, General Secretary, Communist Party of India

13. Sh. Omar Abdullah, Vice President, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference

14. Ms. Mehbooba Mufti, President, Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party