FB’S TEAM OF SPECIALISTS TO CHECK CONTENT

To ensure that its platform isn't used to influence elections in India, Facebook has set up a task force consisting of several specialists.

To ensure that its platform isn't used to influence elections in India, Facebook has set up a task force consisting of several specialists who will monitor advertising and content on the platform as the world's biggest democracy goes to polls next year.

There have been reports about Facebook being misused by external forces to meddle in the US elections held in 2016. The social networking giant has accepted that it missed certain things in the run up to the elections.

"We want our platform to support free and fair elections and positive civic engagement. We welcome the fact that the people will engage with their political leaders and candidates through our platform. But we don't want them to abuse that," said Richard Allan, vice-president, Policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Facebook.

He added that as elections near, the company will pull together specialists who will work with politicians to understand what local parties are doing. "The work will actually be done once the elections near… it is the people who monitor advertising to make sure that the ads are appropriate, people who work at community operation Facebook has accepted that it missed certain things in the run up to the elections The company will pull together specialists who will work with politicians to understand what local parties are doing A task force will have security and content specialists, among others, who will try to understand all the possible forms of election-related abuse in the country The government had told Facebook that no meddling in the election process will be tolerated

centres, who are looking at the content… there will be a network of hundreds of people across the company, who will end up working on the election," Allan said.

The Indian government had told the USheadquartered social networking giant that no meddling in the election process would be tolerated. The issue surrounding the use of social media platforms to influence polls emerged earlier this year when British data firm Cambridge Analytica was accused of accessing data of millions of Facebook users without their consent. The data was allegedly used to influence elections across the globe, including that of US Presidential elections held in 2016.

Having learnt its lessons, Facebook has set up a task force that will have security specialists and content specialists, among others, who will try to understand all the possible forms of election-related abuse in the country.

Allan added that the challenge for the task force in India would be to distinguish between real political news and propaganda. The task force will constitute of existing employees as also new hires.

"What the task force is trying to do is make sure that we don't miss things… in the past, we missed things in the run-up to the US elections… So it's really about making sure that, in the Indian context in particular, we will not miss things… we are building up a team here to spot what is going on," he said. Claiming that the Congress did nothing for the tribal people, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Saturday that his party had ensured that government funds reached the tribals and forest-dwellers.

The BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh will go to polls on November 28, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Saturday.

Addressing a rally at Jhabua in the state, Shah said under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government, people of the area could now afford motorcycles.

“The Congress will come, Rahul baba (Rahul Gandhi) will come. They will talk about everything, but development. They will talk about caste, religion. But whenever they come to power, they take money meant for the forestdwellers to their own homes... The BJP ensures that the money meant for them reaches their (forest-dwellers') homes,” Shah said.

The Congress ruled Madhya Pradesh for 55 years, but development did not reach Jhabua, he said. “People in large numbers using twowheelers meant that Chouhan had brought enough prosperity to the district,” he said.

“There was not even a tribal ministry (during the Congress rule). When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister, the Adivasi Kalyan Mantralaya was formed for the first time,” the BJP president added.