New Delhi: For nearly two years now, Indian and international rights organisations have waited for Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) to release the Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) on India report. Trailblazers leading the campaign against hate crimes hoped the report would help them understand the extent of hate and communal violence allowed on the company’s social media platforms. However, as months pass by with no hint of the company’s willingness to release the report, whistleblowers, activists and experts came together to discuss Meta’s role in today’s hate ecosystem.
On January 19, 2022, Real Facebook Oversight Board, which is an emergency response to ongoing harms on Meta’s platforms comprising global scholars, experts and advocates, as well as India Civil Watch International and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) called for a virtual press briefing. Speakers such as CJP Secretary Teesta Setalvad, Delhi Minorities Commission ex-Chairman Dr Zafarul Khan, Facebook ex-Vice President Brian Boland and whistleblowers Sophie Zhang and Frances Haugen discussed the company’s human rights problems in India and allegations that Meta / Facebook is deliberately delaying the HRIA report.
Host Kyle Taylor mentioned how over 20 international civil society organizations sent a letter to Meta demanding the report’s immediate release on January 3 but received no favourable response. “The role of the company in human rights issues and unrest in countries around the world is deeply troubling. India is at the top of that list, where the use of Facebook’s [Meta’s] platforms including WhatsApp have sparked a great amount of violence,” he said.
Setalvad shed further light on this while highlighting India’s recent assessment by various international reports as a “partly free” and a “partially free electoral democracy” and its falling rank in the Freedom Index. She spoke about the recent hate against minority groups such as the call for communal genocide in December 2021, attacks on Christians during Christmas time, the auction of Muslim women via social media apps. “Within this overall scenario, Facebook India as a platform is playing a dangerous role. It has a vast clientele of over 460 million users in English and 22 Indian languages and allows unchecked inflammatory content that has become an instrument for targeting minorities, Dalits and women,” she said.
She further cited numerous interactions between CJP and Facebook India in October 2018, 2019 and March 2021, where the company had a lukewarm response to the various successive complaints by CJP about how it was allowing rampant hate to spread on its platform. During the latest interaction, she recollected that Facebook finally concluded that hate-spreader Raja Singh violated its Community Standards (Objectionable Content) and Violence and Criminal Behaviour rules, and removed him from the site. However, his fan pages and followers continue to generate provocative content.
Similarly, during the 2020 Delhi violence, CJP sent two complaints regarding the hate speech promoted by hate-monger and Rashtriya Azad Manch member Ragini Tiwari. In response Facebook said it is not in a position to take any action against Tiwari but suggested that CJP contact the party directly.
This is just like another instance in November 2018, when CJP complained against a post by Yati Narsinghanad that told Hindus to arm themselves 24×7 and called Islam ‘cancer’ but was told by Facebook that the post did not violate community standards.
“We have tried to engage however, and whenever given the chance, have had detailed correspondences, attended India Roundtables, have offered more than a dozen and a half of minute case studies and many, more complaints that, have unfortunately resulted in unsatisfactory results. All this work has also been at a risk and cost as the government tracks the critiques and dissenters,” said Setalvad.
Regarding the HRIA report, Setalvad highlighted the extensive meetings where CJP presented its analyses and case studies, complaints and responses in great detail, and how it was disappointing to see that a mega corporation such as Meta skirted the call for accountability and transparency.
“Facebook needs to engage with the issue directly, honestly and comprehensively. It must release the full, undiluted, and unredacted HRIA on India,” she said. Sabrang India
