BJP spreading fake news on FB, Whatsapp, says Oppn

NEWDELHI: The opposition is up in arms against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) amid allegations that Facebook has been lenient when censoring content that amounts to hate-speech by members of the ruling party.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that the BJP and its ideological partner, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) “control Facebook & Whatsapp in India”. “They spread fake news and hatred through it and use it to influence the electorate. Finally, the American media has come out with the truth about Facebook,” Gandhi tweeted.

Gandhi was referring to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Saturday that suggesting that Facebook was going easy on hate speeches by members of the ruling BJP.

In a press conference held by senior Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Praveen Chakravarty and Rohan Gupta, a demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the issues was also raised.

The BJP categorically denied the allegations, stating that Congress need to look within before it raises such questions.

Union information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed Gandhi and said, “Losers who cannot influence people even in their own party keep cribbing that the entire world is controlled by BJP & RSS. You were caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica & Facebook to weaponise data before the elections & now have the gall to question us.”

In 2018, Uk-based Cambridge Analytica was at the centre of a