No element in Bajrang Dal’s content that necessitates ban: Facebook India head

Ajit Mohan, MD of Facebook India, after a meeting with the Parliamentary panel. (ANI)

Facebook’s India head Ajit Mohan deposed before a parliamentary panel on Wednesday and suggested that the social media company’s fact-checking team has so far found no such element that necessitates a ban on the Bajrang Dal, sources said.

Mohan deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The panel had called him on the issue of the citizens’ data safety. Mohan was accompanied by Shivnath Thukral, the public policy director of Facebook.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, along with Tharoor, questioned Mohan about a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report suggesting that the social media giant is reluctant on banning the Bajrang Dal on its platform due to financial reasons and concerns over the safety of its staff, sources said.

The WSJ report suggested that despite an internal assessment calling for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, Facebook has not cracked down on the Hindu nationalist group due to these reasons.

Replying to queries, Mohan suggested to the panel members that the Facebook fact team consultant has so far not found any such element in the content posted by the Bajrang Dal that is violative of its social media policies.

Further quizzing him, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey asked if the Bajrang Dal content was not found to be violative of its social media policies, then why did the Facebook not deny the WSJ report and termed it as fake.

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