Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Facebook does not profit from hate speech, says India chief

Facebook does not profit from hate speech, the tech giant's India chief said on Wednesday (16), rejecting allegations the Silicon Valley firm failed to act on the issue over business concerns.

India is the biggest market for the US-based company and its messaging service WhatsApp in terms of users, and the firm is under pressure worldwide over the policing of hate speech.


Facebook has been embroiled in a huge row in the South Asian nation after the Wall Street Journal reported in August that the company failed to remove anti-Muslim comments by a politician from the Hindu nationalist ruling party in order to protect its business interests.

"It's not good for us, not for people on the platform. There is no constituency that benefits from hate speech," Facebook India Managing Director Ajit Mohan told The Times of India.

He added that the company was doing everything possible to "keep all kinds of harm away from the platform".

The comments came a day after Mohan failed to appear before a Delhi panel probing allegations that Facebook had deliberately ignored instances of hate speech on its platform.

The firm is also being questioned by a Indian parliamentary committee over its alleged political bias.

More than 40 rights groups worldwide have written a letter to Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg demanding that India public policy head Ankhi Das be sidelined, pending the outcome of a civil rights audit, for allegedly failing to address anti-Muslim hate speech on the platform.

Das reportedly told staff that punishing violations by politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would harm the company's business prospects in India.

Mohan said Das was not responsible for any decisions governing hate speech.

"It's important to highlight that the public policy team that Ankhi leads as part of my team is separate from the content policy team that enforces these decisions," he said.

"The bias is for more speech to be on the platform than less," he said, adding that the company did not want to enable the "censorship of speech from elected officials or political leaders".

Following a media storm over its alleged failure to act against BJP lawmaker Raja Singh, who called for Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar to be shot, the firm banned him from Facebook and Instagram this month.

Facebook said he was barred under its "dangerous individuals and organisations" policy.

More For You

Sunita-Williams-Reuters

Sunita Williams was part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission and had been stranded in space for over nine months. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters)

India looks amazing from space, says Sunita Williams

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams described India as "amazing" from space and expressed her intention to visit her "father's home country" to share her experiences on space exploration.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, she responded to a question about how India appeared from space and the possibility of collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Keep ReadingShow less
british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less