Congress demands criminal probe against Facebook India

Party reacts to a report published in Wall Street Journal

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, State Congress President during a press conference in Kolkata Congress office - Photo by Sanjoy Ghosh

The Congress on Monday demanded a criminal investigation into the affairs of Facebook India and reiterated its demand to set up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the social media company on interfering with India’s electoral process.

The party reacted to a fresh expose by the Wall Street Journal in which Facebook (FB) India’s public policy head, Ankhi Das, has been mentioned as being biased towards the ruling BJP.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury; Praveen Chakravarty, chairman of Congress Data Analytics team and Rohan Gupta, the party’s social media head, said FB India’s “interference is an assault on India’s electoral democracy”.

“The Indian National Congress demands a joint parliamentary committee investigation immediately. A criminal investigation into the affairs of Facebook India and the people named. All pending approvals and licenses for Facebook and WhatsApp to be put on hold until the investigations are completed. Suspension of Facebook India’s leadership team with immediate effect until the conclusion of the investigations,” Mr. Chowdhury said.