Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi speaks in Lok Sabha
Highlights
- Sonia Gandhi has asked the government to end Facebook interference in India's democracy
- She said companies like FB & Twitter are used increasingly to shape political narratives
- She said "we need to protect democracy & social harmony regardless of who is in power"
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday urged the government to put an end to the 'systematic interference' of Facebook and other social media giants on electoral politics in the country. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Sonia without taking the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleged that social harmony is being disturbed by Facebook with the connivance of the ruling establishment.
Referring to a report published in Al Jazeera and The Reporters' Collective claiming that Facebook had offered BJP cheaper deals for election advertisements as compared to other political parties, she said that "we need to protect democracy and social harmony regardless of who is in power".
"Thank you for allowing me to take up an issue of paramount importance - rising danger of social media being abused to hack our democracy. Global companies like FB & Twitter are used increasingly to shape political narratives by leaders, parties & their proxies," she said while making a Zero Hour submission in the Lok Sabha.
"It has repeatedly come to public notice that global social media companies aren't providing a level playing field to all parties...Blatant manner in which social harmony is being disturbed by FB with the connivance of ruling establishment is dangerous for our democracy," Sonia who represents UP's Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha said.
"Young and old minds are being filled with hate through emotionally charged disinfo, and proxy advertising companies like FB are aware of it and are profiting from it. Report shows a growing nexus between big corporations, ruling establishment and global social media giants like FB," she alleged.
"I urge government to put an end to systematic influence and interference of FB & other social media giants in electoral politics of the world's largest democracy. This is beyond parties & politics. We need to protect our democracy & social harmony regardless of who's in power," Gandhi said.
According to the report published in Aljazeera which cited an analysis of advertisement spending in 22 months and 10 elections, Facebook’s algorithm favoured the BJP as it offered cheaper advertisement deals to the saffron party over other political parties. The BJP won nine of the 10 elections, including the 2019 general elections.
The Congress has time and again alleged that Facebook, Twitter and other platforms favour the BJP over other political parties.
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