Opposition INDIA bloc writes letter to Meta and Google CEOs, demands neutrality in Indian elections

The INDIA opposition bloc has reached out to the CEOs of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, and Google, Sundar Pichai, regarding their alleged involvement in promoting "communal hatred" on their social media platforms in the country. They have called for these platforms to maintain neutrality during the upcoming elections.

These letters were prompted by an article in The Washington Post that raised concerns about perceived bias on Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sharing the letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stated, "Letter by INDIA parties to Facebook's Mr. Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) citing the exhaustive investigations by the Washington Post that Meta is culpable of abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India".

Kharge further expressed, "The INDIA parties have also written to Google's Mr. Sundar Pichai, referencing The Washington Post's extensive investigation, which implies that Alphabet, and specifically YouTube, is contributing to social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India."

In their letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the Opposition parties representing the India National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a coalition of 28 political parties in India, emphasised their representation in 11 states and nearly half of all Indian voters. They pointed to The Washington Post's revelations concerning WhatsApp and Facebook's role in fueling communal hatred on behalf of the ruling BJP. The article detailed how divisive propaganda is spread through WhatsApp groups by BJP members and supporters.

The letter also referred to another article titled 'Under India's pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thrive,' which highlighted the clear bias of Facebook India executives toward the ruling government.

The INDIA bloc argued that The Washington Post's investigations make it evident that Meta is contributing to social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India. They also claimed to have data showing algorithmic bias in moderating and suppressing content from Opposition leaders while promoting content from the ruling party.

The Opposition strongly demanded that Meta's operations in India maintain a stance of neutrality. They considered the apparent partisanship by a private foreign company towards one political group as interference in India's democracy, and they vowed not to take it lightly. Given the upcoming national elections in 2024, the Opposition earnestly appealed for Meta to ensure that its operations in India remain neutral and do not contribute to social unrest or distort India's democratic principles.

In their letter to Sundar Pichai of Google, they referred to The Washington Post's expose titled "He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award," which pointed out YouTube's role in promoting communal hatred and dividing Indian society. The article detailed how this divisive propaganda is disseminated on YouTube by BJP members and supporters.

The Opposition parties argued that the extensive investigation by The Washington Post makes it evident that Alphabet and specifically YouTube are contributing to social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India. They also alleged algorithmic bias in suppressing content from Opposition leaders while favouring content from the ruling party.

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