Govt. dismisses Congress demand for JPC probe into Facebook issue

The party is frustrated: Pralhad Joshi

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

The government on Monday dismissed demands made by the Congress for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations based on news reports that the social media site Facebook had refused to remove hate speech by BJP leaders from its portal in order to protect its business interests in India.

Speaking to

The Hindu , Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Congress’s demand was a “manifestation of their [Congress] frustration” and that the party was known to denigrate and try to discredit all institutions in the past, if it didn’t find decisions made by these institutions convenient for itself.

“The Congress has not spared any institution, constitutional or otherwise, in its frustration at being out of power. From the Supreme Court to the Election Commission [EC] on the issue of Electronic Voting Machines [EVMs] to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office to even the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Congress has tried to cast aspersions on their working if it doesn’t find it conducive to its desires. After having done all that and finding no takers, the Congress has shifted its mark to Facebook. This is a manifestation of their frustration,” he said.

“Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has possibly mistaken ‘FB’ to stand for ‘Frustration Book’,” he added.

Also read: Congress demands JPC probe into Facebook ‘interference’ in elections

The demand for a JPC probe was made by the Congress on Sunday after a Wall Street Journal report said Facebook public policy head in India, Ankhi Das, had cautioned against censoring posts amounting to hate speech by BJP leaders in order to protect the social media site’s business interests in the country.

‘Rahul a loser’

Law and Telecommunications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had combated Mr. Gandhi’s allegations on the issue by terming him a “loser” and by pointing out that the Congress had been “caught red-handed in alliance with Cambridge Analytica and Facebook” in order to “weaponise data” before the 2019 General Election.

The monsoon session of Parliament, sources say, is likely to commence in the first week of September amid the COVID-19 pandemic.