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Officials of Facebook India on Thursday, 18 November, appeared before the Delhi Assembly Committee of Peace and Harmony in connection with the riots that rocked Northeast Delhi in 2020.
According to NDTV, among other things, the company's officials were questioned about the religious affiliation of the India public policy team and board of directors.
Responding to the question from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha, who heads the panel, Shivnath Thukral, Facebook India's Public Policy Director, stated that Facebook does not "maintain records regarding the number of religious minority employees as the law of land doesn't allow that".
The panel also asked questions about how Facebook India moderates inflammatory content and hate speech on the platform.
According to India Today, Thukral informed the panel that Facebook detects and deletes at least 97 percent of such problematic content. When a user submits a complaint, acknowledgment is provided in 24 hours and work on the complaint completed within two weeks, he added.
The committee also asked the platform to submit all user complaints received starting a month before the riots and going up till two months post the riots, as well as details on action taken on such complaints by Facebook.
However, according to NDTV, when asked to provide data on inflammatory posts removed for violating policy during the Delhi riots, Thukral chose not to answer, pointing out that it is a matter of ongoing investigation.
"It is a matter of an ongoing investigation and a matter of law and order. The SC judgment allows me to exercise my right not to comment on this specific instance," he said, according to India Today.
Chadha also reportedly questioned the official about whether Facebook has defined hate speech in the Indian context.
The Delhi Assembly Committee was created to look into the Northeast Delhi riots that took place in February 2020.
Facebook was brought into the picture when the committee recognised the importance of social media in creating or curbing fake news and false ill-intended messages that can cause violence and sustain it.
(With inputs from NDTV and India Today.)
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