Facebook's accountability

Platform must make internal reforms to remain relevant

Social media platforms are now the public squares of the world’s democracies. It is through them that political leaders speak to citizens, voters engage with one another, and narratives of one sort or another are built. In most democracies, therefore, there is an open discussion about how these platforms must conduct themselves. It has become clear that India too is overdue for such a discussion. While Facebook has said it has a policy of enforcing a filter “without regard to anyone’s political position or party affiliation”, a recent report in The Wall Street Journal revealed that a senior executive of