New Delhi: Ankhi Das, Public Policy Head of Facbook India, has left the company. This information is provided by Facebook. A statement from the social networking site stated that Ankhi had left the company to pursue a career in public service. Ankhi Das was in the discussion on the alleged bias in banning hate speech on social media platforms.
Ajit Mohan, Managing Director, Facebook India, said in an emailed statement that Ankhi “has decided to step down from her role in Facebook to further her interest in public service. One of India’s earliest employees. One Eye has played a key role in the development of the company and its services over the past 9 years. “
Ankhi Das had recently appeared before the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Data Security Bill 2019. This parliamentary committee is chaired by Meenakshi Lekhi. Along with India, she was the Director of Public Policy for South and Central Asia. This resignation of Ankhi Das has come at a time when a few days ago, questions were raised on Facebook about political content in its largest market, India. Sources said that the members of the committee asked him various questions for two hours. During the meeting, a member said that the social media company should not be allowed to hack into the data of its consumers for the commercial benefit of its advertisers or for electoral purposes.
These questions were asked by the committee
Sources said that the MPs wanted to know about the revenue from India to Facebook and how much of the revenue is spent on data security. According to users, India is the largest market for Facebook. She informed us that the committee also wanted to know how much tax the social media company pays in India. Concerns were also raised during the meeting over allegations that most employees of social media companies in the United States are leaning towards a particular political party in the country.
Last month, Facebook India chief Ajit Mohan appeared before Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information and Technology, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, over alleged misuse of social media platforms.
What a controversy
In the past, Facebook has been accused of promoting hate speech and political bias. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a report in the American newspaper Wall Street Journal alleging that Facebook was not taking action against hate speech due to its political leanings. The name of Ankhi Das also came up in this controversy. Many Congress leaders had accused Ankhi Das of bias on Facebook.
The report, citing unnamed Facebook sources, claimed that Facebook’s senior Indian policy official had interfered in an internal letter to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana for allegedly posting with communal allegations. .
Congress organization general secretary Casey Venugopal had twice sent an email to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in this regard.
