The "India Report" has been repeatedly postponed, whistleblower: Facebook deliberately conceals its impact on human rights in India

The Paper's reporter Xu Zhenhua

Facebook "whistleblower" Frances Haugen recently called again that Facebook platforms should publish a report on its influence in India as soon as possible. Haugen and other "whistleblowers" have accused Facebook of deliberately concealing its negative impact on India's human rights issues.

According to the British "Guardian" reported on January 20, on January 19, more than 20 organizations, together with Haugen, another "whistleblower" Sophie Zhang, and former Facebook vice chairman Brian Brande, demanded that the former Facebook headquarters, now renamed "Meta", publish the above "India Report".

Facebook fuels ethnic conflict?

Zafarul-Islam Khan, former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission in the Delhi government, said: "As a result of the ongoing hatred on social media , particularly on Facebook — Muslims in India are effectively dehumanized, falling into helplessness and silence," the Guardian reported on Jan. 20. ”

According to an earlier report in the Washington Post, Haugen's internal Facebook company documents show that outside the United States, the problem of hate speech and fake news on Facebook platforms is more serious. Through the survey, Facebook found that if the Facebook platform lacks control in non-English-speaking countries, it is likely to abuse content. Although the company is well aware of the problem, it has not made enough efforts to combat fake news.

According to the exposed documents, 84 percent of Facebook's efforts to combat misinformation have been spent in the United States, and only 16 percent have been allocated to "the rest of the world," which includes India, which has a population of 1.38 billion and ethnic conflicts. According to the data, India is Facebook's largest market with 340 million users.

The Guardian noted that documents released by Haugeen and other "whistleblowers" show that the social media environment of Facebook users in India is rife with fake news, hate speech (especially against Muslims) and fake accounts (bots) that interfere with elections. Faced with this situation, Facebook has not distributed its resources equally to non-English-speaking markets with larger populations.

On Jan. 19, Indian activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad commented that Facebook's unequal distribution of resources is particularly pronounced in India, which has 22 official languages. "Facebook allows the publication of uncensored content that has become a tool for minorities, Dalits and women in India." Setalvad said.

The reasons for the postponement are different

In 2020, Facebook commissioned the U.S. law firm Foley Hoag to conduct an independent investigation to study the impact of Facebook's platform on India. However, the release of this report has been repeatedly delayed.

According to the US media "Washington Post" reported on January 19, a member of the social organization revealed that Foley Hogg's draft of the "India Report" was handed over to Facebook in mid-2021.

On the same day, a number of social organizations expressed dissatisfaction with Facebook's delay in publishing the "India Report", believing that Facebook was well aware of the proliferation of hatred and false speech on its platform, but refused to protect the public's right to know in the form of a report.

In response to these questions, Miranda Sidas, Facebook's head of human rights policy, said in a statement: "Given the complexity of this work, we hope these assessments are thorough." We will publish an annual report in line with our human rights policy to explore how we care about human rights implications. ”

The Washington Post pointed out that the pressure of social organizations on Facebook to publish the "India Report" coincided with the upcoming local elections in India. In addition, violence against minorities such as Muslims and Christians initiated by Hindu nationalists is becoming more common on Indian social media platforms.

Scandal-ridden?

The Washington Post reported on October 25 last year that the media interviewed dozens of current and former Facebook employees and obtained internal Facebook documents. The materials show how Facebook as a social media can be harmful to the real world.

The controversy or negative impacts related to Facebook reportedly include: Facebook's failure to curb the massive increase in hate and conspiracy theory rhetoric during the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States; the retention of many Indian social media accounts that spread false news against Muslims, flooding social media with hate speech against Muslims; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's move to support expanded censorship in Vietnam contradicts its position on "freedom of speech"; internal documents show that Facebook has only cleaned up 5% before individual reports. Facebook has long been aware that Facebook's "photo wall (Instagram)" may pose a risk to the mental health of children and adolescents, but has not taken action, among other things.

Haugen, the "whistleblower," accused that Facebook's relentless pursuit of performance growth has caused a range of social harms that Zuckerberg must be held accountable for maintaining tight control over Facebook.

Responsible Editor: Zhang Wuwei Photo Editor: Hu Mengxi

Proofreader: Liu Wei