 "Oppn, Opposition parties")
The 28-party INDIA bloc on Thursday shot off letters to Meta Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, flagging the "culpability" of social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube in "abetting social disharmony and inciting communal hatred in India". The alliance, citing recent articles in The Washington Post, alleged the social platforms were culpable "in aiding the communal hatred campaign of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)".
In separate but nearly identical letters to Zuckerberg and Pichai, the Opposition alliance alleged that the social platforms their companies run have indulged in "blatant partisanship and bias towards one political formation". They said it was "tantamount to interfering in India's democracy" by "foreign" companies, which the "INDIA alliance will not take lightly".
The letters, signed by 14 leaders of the Indian National Inclusive Developmental Alliance (INDIA), including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who posted these on X, and party leader Rahul Gandhi, urged Zuckerberg and Pichai that in light of the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls, "to consider these facts seriously and ensure immediately" that Meta and Alphabet's "operations in India remain neutral and are not used wittingly or unwittingly to cause social unrest or distort India's much-cherished democratic ideals."
In their letter to Zuckerberg and Pichai, the alliance said it had "data that shows algorithmic moderation and suppression of Opposition leaders' content" on the social media platforms that their companies run "while also promoting ruling party content". "This was well known to us in the Opposition for a long time and we have even raised it several times in the past," the letters stated. The letters identified the INDIA bloc as the ruling alliance in 11 states and representing nearly half of all Indian voters.
The letter to Zuckerberg pointed to the recent articles in The Washington Post that detailed the "vile, communally divisive propaganda" carried out by "BJP members and supporters" using "WhatsApp groups". "In another article titled 'Under India's pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thrive', the Post has elucidated with evidence the blatant partisanship by Facebook India executives towards the ruling dispensation," the alliance alleged.
In its letter to Pichai, the alliance pointed to The Washington Post article titled 'He live-streamed his attacks on Indian Muslims. YouTube gave him an award' "about the role of YouTube in propagating communal hatred and dividing Indian society". "Specifically, the article cites details of how this vile, communally divisive propaganda is carried out using YouTube by BJP members and supporters," the alliance said.
Apart from Kharge and Gandhi, other signatories to the letters are Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu, Janata Dal (United)'s Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav, Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, CPI (M)'s Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja, National Conference's Omar Abdullah and Peoples' Democratic Party's Mehbooba Mufti.
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"It is deeply ironic that we are writing this letter during the birth month anniversary of the greatest champion of non-violence and social harmony in history, Mahatma Gandhi," the alliance leaders said, expressing confidence that Zuckerberg and Pichai, and their respective companies, "also yearn for a harmonious India that the Mahatma wished for". "We look forward to your full cooperation in this regard," the letters stated.
Last month, the INDIA bloc of parties had announced that they would be boycotting 14 news television anchors. Meta runs WhatsApp and Facebook, while Alphabet is YouTube's holding company.
