NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Monday registered a case based on a complaint by senior Facebook India executive Ankhi Das that she has been receiving “violent threat to her life”, while the company said its policies were impartial when it came to prohibiting hate speech across the globe, after an article published last week in The Wall Street Journal claimed that the social media platform overlooks hate speech by BJP leaders.
Das, who is Facebook’s Director, Public Policy, India, South and Central Asia, had filed the complaint on Sunday.“On receiving the complaint, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the law on August 17, and an investigation has been taken up by the Cyber Prevention Awareness and Detection (CyPAD) unit of the Delhi Police,” a senior Delhi Police said.
In her complaint, Das alleged that many people on Facebook and Twitter are issuing her life threats, making abusive and sexual comments, and some even used her photographs to defame her. According to Das, she had been receiving the threats since the article was published on August 14.
“The content, which even includes my photographs is evidently threatening to my life and body and I fear for my safety as well as that of my family members. The content also maligns my reputation based on a news article and I am subjected to name-calling, cyberbullying and eve-teasing online,”she said.Das allegedly intervened in a review process of the communal posts of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Telangana MLA T Raja Singh, the article said.
Facebook, in its statement, said: “We prohibit hate speech & content that incites violence & we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone’s political position/party affiliation. We’re making progress on enforcement & conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness & accuracy.”