Facebook India's public policy head Ankhi Das steps down amid hate speech row

Facebook India's head of public policy, who has been accused of violating the company's hate content guidelines, has tendered her resignation. Facebook India's Managing Director Ajit Mohan has informed that Ankhi Das has decided to step down from her role to pursue her interest in 'public service'. Das' resignation comes days after she was quizzed by India's Parliamentary panel. 

“Ankhi has decided to step down from her role in Facebook to pursue her interest in public service. Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last 9 years,” PTI quoted Ajit Mohan. 

As per PTI, in her resignation letter, Ankhi Das wrote, "When I joined Facebook in 2011, internet growth in the country was woefully low and I often wondered how social and economic asymmetries will be addressed. We were a small unlisted startup back then guided only by our mission and purpose to connect people in India. After nine long years, I feel that the mission has largely been met. There is an enormous amount I have learnt from incredibly smart and talented people in the company, particularly form people on the policy team. This is a special company and a special group of people."

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Ankhi Das quizzed by Parliament panel 

On Friday, Ankhi Das was quizzed by the Parliament panel about Facebook's total revenue, profit, tax payouts in India amid accusations of Facebook's alleged bias in dealing with hate speeches. According to the sources, the popular social media platform was questioned about what proportion of their earnings is spent on ensuring data security in India. Das was asked to appear before the Joint Committee of Parliament on Data Protection Bill, 2019, chaired by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi. As per sources, she was questioned for nearly two hours. 

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Accusations against Ankhi Das

On August 14, Wall Street Journal had reported that Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh's communal and incendiary speeches were passed through without being flagged by Facebook, despite it clashing with the company's hate speech rules. The report claimed that inspite of the posts allegedly violating Facebook's hate-speech rules and qualifying as dangerous, Facebook was not to keen on flagging them under its hate-speech policy owing to the company's business prospects in India.

Citing preferential treatment by Facebook, WSJ points to the removal of thousands of Congress-linked Pakistan military posts and several BJP-linked fake news pages prior to the Lok Sabha elections. The report further points out that Facebook has faced issues with the launch of its telecommunications service - Free Basics in 2016 from the Modi government, as it violated net neutrality.

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