Ex-Facebook employee makes ‘scathing revelations’, says panel; hints at Delhi riots

The Delhi Legislative Assembly’s Peace and Harmony Committee questioned former Facebook employee Mark S Luckie in the wake of several allegations of culpability of the social media platform in the riots in Delhi earlier this year. Luckie was a former Facebook strategic partner manager for global influencers. He quit the company in 2018 after accusing it of “failing its Black employees”.

Luckie had told the panel that violence in the national capital in February this year could have been easily averted if the social media giant had acted in a proactive and prompt manner.

"He (Mark S Luckie) also asserted the events like Delhi communal clashes, Myanmar genocide and Sri Lanka Communal violence could have been easily averted had Facebook acted in a more proactive and prompt manner," read a release by Committee on Peace and Harmony.

According to sources, Luckie in his tenure actively worked with various core teams and made extremely scathing revelations on the internal functioning of Facebook, thus spilling beans on the entire organisational structure of Facebook globally as well as regionally.

Furthermore leveling serious allegations on Facebook, Luckie affirmed that there has been repeated interference by the top officials of the Facebook teams including their policy heads at the instance of the political parties upon the content moderation teams which has caused eventual compromise in the execution of their own community standards, read the release.

In a statement, the panel said that Luckie made “extremely scathing revelations” on the internal functioning of Facebook during his deposition before the panel via video conference. He alleged that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also partakes in various liaisons with different political parties across the globe in order to earn special benefits or favours as it is of common knowledge that many prominent political figures seek his indulgence every now and then.

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Delhi riots

Clashes began between CAA supporters and anti-CAA groups in Northeast Delhi on February 23, as both camps resorted to stone-pelting after Shaheen Bagh-like protests started in Jaffrabad and Chand Bagh. The situation deteriorated even as Delhi Police was present at the spot as houses, shops, and buses were burnt. The Home Minister reviewed the situation on February 24  and 35. While the US President Donald Trump visited India, the violence increased killing 53 and injuring over 200, as per official figures.

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