NEW DELHI:  Delhi Assembly’s committee on ‘Peace and Harmony’ will  begin its proceedings on Tuesday in connection with complaints against social media platform Facebook for its alleged “deliberate inaction in controlling hateful content” in India.

The panel has summoned expert witnesses, including eminent journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Digital Rights activist Nikhil Pahwa, to participate in the proceedings.

After deliberation on allegations levelled in the complaints received against the social media platform, the panel, chaired by AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, had decided to take immediate cognisance of this issue. “The Delhi Legislative assembly’s committee has decided to delve into the issue and apprehend any devious conspiracy and unholy nexus of rabble-rousers with oblique motives to wreak havoc in the country and more particularly in the NCT of Delhi by disturbing peace and tranquility as well as  instigating intense communal disharmony,” the committee said in a statement. 

“The committee, after vetting the complaints and giving a careful deliberation upon the allegations set out therein is of the prima facie view that the allegations against the concerned Facebook officials are extremely serious in nature which if remain unchecked and unhindered may lead to serious adverse fallouts,” the statement added.

It said that the committee aims to redress the issue at the earliest and therefore, the proceedings shall be expedited in order to put this issue to its logical conclusion. Thakurta is the co-author of the book ‘The Real Face of Facebook in India’. Pahwa is a digital rights activist and prominent face in the digital ecosystem in India for his expertise related to the technicalities of the social media platform.

The development comes in the backdrop of a report published in the Wall Street Journal recently, citing interviews with unnamed Facebook insiders to claim that one of its senior India policy executives intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana after he shared communally charged posts.

Facebook denies bias
Facebook had said its social media platform prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence and these policies are enforced globally without regard to political affiliation. “We’re making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy,” it said.