Bollywood actress who has recently been extremely vocal about the nepotism in the industry has now announced her entry into Social Media. So far, Kangana Ranaut was not personally on Twitter.
Her team posted a video message by Kangana Ranaut on Twitter where she said that she has been in the industry for 15 years but despite several contracts specifically asking her to join Twitter, she has stayed away from the platform. However, after seeing how Netizens rallied for Sushant Singh Rajput and eventually, the court decided to order a CBI probe into his death, she has developed a lot of hope from the platform.
She said that she believes Twitter can be used to rally for the changes people want to see in India and hence, she will be joining Twitter this month.
Social Media behemoth Twitter on Thursday informed Telangana High Court that it has removed “offensive” trends spreading “hatred against Islam” and hashtags attempting to portray Muslims as the spreaders of the Chinese coronavirus.
Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya representing Twitter in the court sought two weeks’ time from a bench of Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy, assuring them that the organisation had complied with the norms and that they need a fortnight’s time to file a counter as the response had come from San Francisco, US, where the Twitter headquarters is located.
Heeding to Twitter’s counsel, the judges asked him to file a counter by September 6 and posted the case to September 9.
PIL to curb Islamophobic hashtags was filed in June 2020
In June this year, the Telangana High Court had issued a notice to a PIL seeking action against social media giant Twitter for allowing its platform to be used to purvey hashtags that were Islamophobic in nature in relation with the coronavirus spread. Subsequently, the court had asked Twitter to file its counter in July 2020.
The PIL was filed by advocate Khaja Aizajuddin, who alleged that the social media platform allowed ‘hate-filled’ hashtags against Islam and Muslim for a long time until High Court issued notice to Twitter and the central government authorities over it.
Aizajuddin had sought removal of hashtags such as #CoronaJihad, #TablighiJamaat, #Islamiccoronavirusjihad, and others. In addition to this, the advocate had also requested the court to instruct the state governments to register criminal cases against Twitter users who were allegedly spreading hate messages.
It is pertinent to note that the hashtags such as #CoronaJihad, #TablighiJamaat were used on Twitter after Tablighi Jamaat emerged as the potent coronavirus hotspot in the country. Members of Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim seminary were found to have congregated for an event in Markaz Nizamuddin in contravention to the coronavirus guidelines. Furthermore, Tablighi Jamaat members who were being transported to isolation centres were found to be spitting on roads. Some of them even spitted on doctors, nurses and attendants in the isolation centres.
Nott the first time: Twitter had arbitrarily removed so-called Islamophobic content after Kamlesh Tiwari’s brutal assassination
While this has not been the first instance when Twitter had arbitrarily pulled down content that was branded as against the Muslims and Islam. In the aftermath of the brutal assassination of the former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari, Twitter proceeded to remove hashtags that it deemed were against Muslims even as the Hindu Samaj leader was the victim of a hate crime by Muslims for his views on Prophet Muhammad.
Following the gruesome murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, which was committed by two Muslims and aided by several others, a hashtag ‘#मुस्लिमो_का_संपूर्ण_बहिष्कार (Total boycott of Muslims)’ was gaining traction on the social media website. Videos of Muslims threatening apostates and non-believers of dire consequences were spread through the hashtag. However, Twitter removed the hashtag, saying it wanted to “improve the health of public conversation”.
On Wednesday, actress Kangana Ranaut launched a scathing against the mafia in the movie industry and said there are gangs at work whose goal is to push a political agenda.
Speaking to Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami after the Supreme Court transferred the Sushant Singh Rajput’s case to CBI, the Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut slammed the likes of Javed Akhtar, Naseeruddin Shah for enabling nepotism and favouritism in the movie industry.
In the interview, Kangana Ranaut, exposing Javed Akhtar’s charade of being an ‘atheist’, stated that the likes of Javed Akhtar who pretend to be ‘atheists’, in reality, keep an eye on people within the industry to check whether they are pro-Islam or not. She added then that these people ‘filter’ Islam-friendly people in the industry and promote them.
Aamir Khan has not condoned Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
Referring to the Bollywood racket that controls the media narrative, Kangana Ranaut in her interview questioned Bollywood actor Aamir Khan on his silence over the death of the 34-year-old actor.
Kangana Ranaut noted that Aamir Khan, who has worked with Sushant Singh Rajput in a blockbuster film ‘PK’, has not shared even his concerns and did not support the demand for an investigation.
“No one from Bollywood asked for a CBI probe, it works like an entire gang. Aamir Khan worked with Sushant in ‘PK’ but he didn’t raise his voice,” Kangana noted.
Not just Aamir Khan, Kangana Ranaut trained her guns against other Bollywood entertainers such as Anushka Sharma, Rani Mukherjee for staying silent on the actor’s death.
“Even Anushka will not say anything, Raju Hirani will not say anything, Aditya Chopra and his wife Rani Mukerji will also not say anything. This racket works like a gang,” she said in the Republic TV interview. She added that many Bollywood celebs have been totally indifferent to the tragic death.
Naseeruddin Shah, Shah Rukh Khan work on a political agenda, says Kangana
Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami also asked Kangana Ranaut why she has been the target of Bollywood actors like Naseeruddin Shah. Responding to his question, Kangana Ranaut said that people like Naseeruddin Shah, Aamir Khan, Javed Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan work and makes comment only on the basis of their political agenda.
“These people are anti-Modi, who had filed petitions, had returned awards and also had launched a campaign to deny Modi his visa to US. They run their own agenda, based on politics, within the movie industry. If you do not support them, they will not let you live peacefully,” said Kangana Ranaut in the interview.
Supreme Court orders CBI probe on Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
On August 19, the Supreme Court in its verdict ordered a CBI probe in the death case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. The SC has asked the Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence they have collected in connection the case so far to the CBI.
Observing that the FIR registered at Patna on the complaint filed by Rajput’s father was correct, the SC said that the CBI will be competent to probe not only the Patna FIR but any other FIR related to Rajput death case.
The apex court justified the actions taken by the Bihar police in the case as the Mumbai police had not only failed to register an FIR in the case but had also failed to conduct investigations relatable to the allegations in the complaint.
On Wednesday, the West Bengal police arrested a 24-year-old BJP worker named Sudhadip Das for allegedly posting ‘offensive’ content against Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and nephew of State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, reported India Today. The said MP, Abhishek Banerjee, was elected from the Lok Sabha constituency of Diamond Harbour.
As per the report, Sudhadip was arrested from his residence in North 24 Pargana district, following a complaint by a TMC worker at Habra police station. Reportedly, Sudhadip was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 67 (publishing of obscene material), 504 (provocation), 505 (spreading rumours), and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000. On Thursday, he was produced before the Barasat court.
BJP criticises arrest of Sudhadip Das for criticising Abhishek Banerjee
The BJP has criticised the arrest of its worker and the ruling political dispensation for the systematic targeting of opposition in the State of West Bengal. According to BJP leader Biplab Haldar, the police in the State has been on an overdrive against opposition workers and is working as a TMC party cadre.
TMC leader threatens action against ‘disrespectful’ BJP workers
However, Nilimesh Das, the incumbent Chairman of Habra Municipality has justified the move and has said that the cops were just following the law. He has accused the BJP workers of not ‘respecting’ political opponents and exploiting the social media site Facebook for its ‘political’ agenda.
Das threatened to take similar action if other BJP workers do the same thing. “The BJP worker had abused our beloved and respected MP on social media,” he stated.
The mystery surrounding the death of the 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput is getting murkier with every passing day. Besides the questions pertaining to the circumstances that led to his death, eyebrows are now being raised about the contradictory statements made by director Mahesh Bhatt and actress Rhea Chakraborty.
Following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, Suhrita Das wrote a Facebook post praising Rhea for supporting the deceased actor during his ‘clinical depression’. Das, who works as an associate of Mahesh Bhatt, wrote, “Can’t forget the evening in Sushant’s terrace when it felt like everything was normal in the world while deep within he was slipping away. Sir (referring to Mahesh Bhatt) saw that.”
Suhrita Das further added, “That’s why he shared the very words his Master UG told him warning him about Parveen Babi. Walk away or this will take you down under along with.” On the fateful day of Sushant’s death, the close associate of Mahesh Bhatt admitted that he told Rhea Chakraborty to leave the 34-year-old actor.
Screenshot of the post by Suhrita Das (Image Courtesy: Twitter/@Sharanyashettyy)
Mahesh Bhatt denies asking Rhea to abandon Sushant Singh Rajput
However, in his statement to the police on July 27, Mahesh Bhatt stated that he had met Sushant Singh Rajput only twice, once in 2018 and again in 2020. He also dismissed allegations that he consulted Rhea to leave the actor. “I have never said anything to Rhea about leaving Sushant or anything like that. Rumours about this are baseless,” he was quoted as saying.
Mahesh Bhatt denies telling Rhea to leave Sushant (Photo Credits: Business world)
Whatsapp chat reveals Rhea left Sushant after consulting Mahesh Bhatt
While Mahesh Bhatt has denied telling Rhea about deserting Sushant, an exclusive report by India Today suggests otherwise. The said report contains allegedly ‘leaked’ WhatsApp correspondence between Bhatt and Rhea wherein the latter thanked the former for ‘unclipping her wings.’
“Aisha (name of movie character) moves on..sir..with a heavy heart and sense of relief. Our last call was a wake-up call. You are my angel. You were then and you are now,” Rhea Chakraborty messaged Mahesh Bhatt on Whatsapp on June 8, says the report. The director replied, “Don’t look back. Make it possible what is inevitable.” Bhatt appreciated the actress for being ‘brave’. Later in the conversation, Rhea wrote, “You’ve again unclipped my wings, twice in one life is almost God-like.”
Mahesh Bhatt PR told us he never asked Rhea to leave Sushant and here we have chats where Rhea after leaving Sushant says to Bhatt – "Our last call was a wake up call" "You ve again unclipped my wings, twice in one life is almost God like (sic)."https://t.co/GvUWhuJrtFpic.twitter.com/KLL8CsBzPS
The alleged chat shows Rhea ‘thanking’ bhat again and again, calling him an ‘angel’. She also thanks her destiny for making her meet Mahesh Bhat. In reply, Bhat is saying that Rhea is his ‘child’ and if he cannot be of any use to Rhea, his life will be worthless. He congratulates Rhea for ‘doing what she did’. Rhea then says she has unconditional love for the veteran filmmaker.
The alleged Whatsapp correspondence revealed by India Today, which took place after Rhea left Sushant’s house, seems to suggest that Rhea had ‘left’ Sushant after Mahesh Bhat’s advice.
Rhea claims Sushant asked him to ‘leave’
Recently, Satish Maneshinde, the lawyer who is representing Rhea Chakraborty, had stated that his client had left the house of Sushant at his behest. “Sushant had been calling his family, tell them he was moving out of Mumbai and requesting them to come meet him. After several days of Sushant calling and crying over the phone, his sister Meetu agreed to come live with him on June 8, 2020. Sushant then requested Rhea to move in with her parents for the time being,” he was quoted as saying.
Lawyer of Rhea Chakraborty makes starling claim (Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times)
While the close associate of Mahesh Bhatt had earlier claimed that he encouraged Rhea to leave Sushant, the director had denied the claim as ‘rumour.’ While the whatsapp conversation between Rhea and Bhatt suggests that she left the deceased actor on the behest of Bhatt, her lawyer has now claimed that Sushant had instead asked her to leave temporarily. Amidst the contradictory statements, the case of Sushant Singh Rajput remains shrouded in obscurity.
On Thursday, prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad Naqvi warned the Lucknow authorities against imposing a blanket ban on all Muharram rituals. The Shia cleric also said that he will be holding majlis (sermons) at the Imambara despite coronavirus protocols and dared the authorities to arrest them based on “unconstitutional order”.
According to Times of India report, Maulana Kalbe Jawad, attacking the Lucknow police authorities for putting a blanket ban on religious events due to coronavirus pandemic said that the guidelines issued for Muharram are unconstitutional and illegal.
Maulana Jawad, the cleric who is ‘mutawwali’ of Imambara Ghufranmaab, also said that he will hold religious events despite the restrictions and police are free to arrest him.
Coronavirus orders are against guidelines issued by WHO, says Maulana
As per the Times of India report, the cleric also submitted a written statement with the police commissioner claiming that the order to restrict religious events was not just misleading which has created turmoil in the community, but is also against the guidelines issued by WHO, central and state governments on coronavirus.
“This new guideline should be repealed immediately since COVID-19 protocols are already in place. And I will be taking the sermon from Friday at Imambara Ghufranmaab as has been for decades. The number of people will be limited to 50 along with thermal scanning, sanitisations, social distancing and masks,” Maulana Jawad said.
The controversial cleric added that he would request his community to not protest his arrest but adhere to coronavirus protocols strictly. Jawad also said that permission to hold majlis inside Imambaras by following strict protocols have been issued in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and in Kashmir.
Meanwhile, several clerics including Jawad and All India Shia Personal Law Board general secretary Maulana Yasoob Abbas also claimed that the police is threatening taziya makers to neither make nor sell them. Taziyas are kept at homes by Muslims during Muharram as a replica of Imam Husain’s mausoleum.
“A number of taziya makers have complained to me that they are not being allowed to sell taziyas, which is absolutely against people’s rights and the law. These people have told me that they are being threatened by the police and problems are being created in their sale and purchase,” Jawad wrote in his memorandum to the police commissioner.
Maulana Jawad not new to controversy
Last year, Maulana Kalbe had stoked a huge controversy after he had provoked Muslims and the Dalits to take up arms. Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad has announced to set up a camp in Lucknow to teach them about the ‘right to self-defence’ and how to apply for a firearm licence.
Controversial lawyer Mahmood Pracha along with Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi had announced that they would conduct camps to assist people from the Muslim and Dalit communities to procure firearms.
A day after the Hindu minor girl from Begusarai, who was abducted on gunpoint on July 26, was rescued, the main accused, Izmul Khan alias Nazmul alias Aryan, has also been arrested. Swarajya’s journalist Swati Goel Sharma took to Twitter to share the video.
Nazmul has uploaded picture of the minor girl of Begusarai wearing Sindoor
The journalist has also shared some posts made from the Facebook account of Izmul Khan, who used ‘Captain America’ as his Facebook name. According to locals, who had been tracking his account, Izmul Khan had after the kidnapping, posted a picture of the minor girl wearing sindoor (vermillion) in her hair and a pendant of Ma Durga around her neck. This was said to be the first update on his account since the day of the kidnapping.
Izmul’s deleted Facebook post
According to reports, when the villagers had first gone to Dinesh Kumar Pandit to show him the post, featuring his missing daughter, he had expressed relief to at least see his daughter alive.
Nazmul’s Facebook posts show he had been active on social media
Swarajya reports that when it’s correspondent again checked Izmul’s Facebook profile on August 20, that particular post had been deleted. It, however, showed another post updated about a week ago, that read (as translated), “You have the right to fight with me, but you have no right to leave me”. The report said that there were three comments below this particular post. One Dharambir had written (as translated), “Come back home. Because of you, your brother and sister are in jail. The matter will be settled once the girl is back safe.” One Asif Aqbal had written (as translated), “Your family is very stressed because of you and have even gone to jail. Come back and surrender.”
As his Facebook page was scrolled down further, Izmul’s timeline showed two posts from April. The first translated as: “Listen girl, I am not arrogant about money but about being a Muslim”. The second post as translated: “Neither the government is mine nor I have influence. I don’t even have a big name. I am proud of only one thing — that I am a Musalman and my religion is Islam”.
“My first reaction to the post was that of relief. I was relieved to see my daughter alive,” Dinesh commented on August 20, two days after the girl was rescued by the Bihar police. We reported how on August 19, at around 7:30 am Dinesh Kumar Pandit had received a call from the Bachhwara police station in Beguasarai, informing that the girl has been found in Patna. Izmul, as per Dinesh, is about 20 years of age while his daughter is a minor.
Dinesh expresses angst against Begusarai police
Dinesh, however, said that the Facebook post also filled him with anger towards the police, who had all this while asserted that they were not getting any lead in the case. OpIndia, which has been following the case closely, reported how the DSP had insisted that this was a matter of “love affair” and had asked Dinesh to get some proof.
“Here was my daughter’s kidnapper updating his Facebook status and the police had been claiming all this while that they were trying but getting no leads. Obviously they were doing nothing,” angry Dinesh lambasted.
Dinesh said that when he met his daughter at the police station on August 19, he had asked her about the picture uploaded by Izmul. The girl confided that she was pressurized to get it clicked that way. Dinesh said that he presumes that the boy did so to convey to us that his aim was not religious conversion. And moreover, he wanted to sabotage the girl’s reputation and jeopardise her future so that “we give in”, claimed Dinesh.
Dinesh who returned with his daughter later on Wednesday evening, after completing all judicial formalities, said that his daughter has been constantly crying and hugging her mother, and telling him that she had tried to call him and even escape, but never got the opportunity.
Dinesh, the father of the Hindu minor girl from Begusarai, confirmed that his daughter admitted to being kidnapped and kept in confinement. She also said that she was regularly given sleeping pills.
Meanwhile, the girl’s medical reports are awaited to confirm whether she was sexually assaulted, only after which would the police invoke the POCSO Act against the accused.
The kidnapping of the Begusarai minor Hindu girl
On July 26, a Hindu minor girl was allegedly abducted on gunpoint from Bhikan Chak village, falling under Bachhwara police station limits, in Begusarai, Bihar, while she was returning from the market with her father. Dinesh, the minor girl’s father had alleged that seven people, including main accused Nazmul and a female, approached them in a Bolero car while they were crossing the Panchayat Bhavan in Behrampur in Mansurchak Block in Begusarai district and took away his daughter on gunpoint.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, the ‘creative’ Railway Minister of Pakistan, who had once blamed breakfast made of eggs as the reason for the train disaster in Lahore, has once again boasted about his country having “very small, calculated and perfect bombs to target India all the way up to Assam, but in a way that Muslims are not harmed.”
In an interview to a television channel, Sheikh Rasheed admitted that the Indian Army is far superior to the Pakistan Army in conventional warfare. Therefore, Pakistan is working on these miniaturised nuclear weapons. He said that their bombs are so perfect and precise that they can hit places as far as Assam, but they will not harm Muslims as those small bombs will avoid Muslim dominated places.
Muslims in India prey for Pakistan’s prosperity, Pakistan Minister exults attack orchestrated by Islamists
The Pakistani minister exults the recent attacks in India’s Jamia Milia, Shaheen Bagh, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and Bengaluru orchestrated by Islamists. He said that the Muslims had achieved tremendous results out of these riots. The minister said that Muslims do not forget their ‘insult’ and sooner or later they seek revenge. He mentioned how three Muslims youths came out in the open and set police stations on fire in Bengaluru. He furthers that soon thousands of Muslims hit the streets and rioted across the city, all this to revenge the insult of Prophet Muhammad.
The minister also added that the Muslims in India are always praying for the prosperity of Pakistan.
During the course of the interview, the Pakistan Minister reiterated that if India at all attacks Pakistan, then this would be the last and an extremely lethal and bloody war, where Pakistan would not fight it the conventional way.
This is, however, not the first time, Pakistan’s railway minister has, in a headless rant, ‘threatened’ India with a nuke war. Almost losing his mental balance after India decided to repeal Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he had given away his country’s ‘highly-classified’ secret by disclosing that Pakistan has 125-150 gram ‘smart bombs’, which may hit and destroy a targeted area in India. Expressing his war-mongering fantasy, despite having no strength to fight one, Rasheed Ahmad ‘threatened’ India of war by stating that his country is all prepared to fight against India.
Rasheed Ahmad, who seems to be still struggling to gather his thoughts after an electric shock, has once again gone into the same trance.
Hours after Arvind Kejriwal announced that his Aam Aadmi Party will debut in Uttarakhand’s Assembly elections, BJP leader Kapil Mishra took to Twitter to tear into the Delhi CM. He said that Uttarakhand will give a befitting reply to the murderers of Dilbar Singh Negi, who was mutilated and burnt alive in the Delhi anti-Hindu riots.
The BJP leader Tweeted in Hindi: “दिलबर नेगी के हत्यारों को उत्तराखंड की जनता जमानत जब्त करवा कर भगाएगी” roughly translated as “The people of Uttarakhand would make sure that the election security deposits, of the killers of Dilbar Negi, are forfeited and they are thrown out of the state”.
दिलबर नेगी के हत्यारों को उत्तराखंड की जनता जमानत जब्त करवा कर भगाएगी https://t.co/wyHDa9tFFT
For the uninitiated, Dilbar Singh Negi, who was brutally attacked by the Islamists, during the anti-Hindu riots that were orchestrated in the national capital in February 2020, was a native of Uttarakhand. The violent mob had chopped off Negi’s limbs and had burnt him alive inside the sweet shop.
Kapil Mishra responds to Kejriwal’s announcement that Aam Aadmi Party would debut in Uttarakhand Assembly elections
BJP leader, Kapil Mishra, was responding to Arvind Kejriwal’s comment that AAP’s decision to contest polls in the hilly state was taken after a survey. Kejriwal speaking to the media said that many Uttarakhand natives living in Delhi came up to him and requested him to contest the Uttarakhand Assembly elections. If one is to believe the Delhi CM, the Uttarakhand natives were so impressed with his party’s performance in the last 5 years in Delhi that they wanted him to do the same for Uttarakhand.
AAP party’s link to the anti-Hindu Delhi riots
It is pertinent to note here that, Aam Aadmi party’s ex-leader Tahir Hussain has already confessed to orchestrating the riots that broke out in northeast Delhi in February this year. Delhi Police had named him as one of the main conspirators of the riots along with several others including some NGOs and political groups like Pinjara Tod and PFI.
Tahir Hussain, an AAP leader with close ties with the top leadership of the party, was found coordinating, orchestrating the attacks against Hindus. He is also accused of involvement in the murder of IB official Ankit Sharma.
OpIndia’s detailed report on the chronology of the event that led up to the riots is now available on Kindle. It has a comprehensive account of the loss of life and property in riots and how Hindus were targeted.
Days after the Wall Street Journal published an article claiming that BJP has links with social media giant Facebook, BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya has made some shocking revelations about Congress leaders hiring lobbyists in the USA to spread propaganda. Malviya posted a letter written by Congress MP Manish Tewari to Facebook, where he had asked the company to contact his lobbyist in the USA for any further information.
Manish Tewari wrote the letter to Facebook on 18th August, referring to the WSJ article published on 14th August. Saying that the article accuses of one Facebook executive of being biased towards the BJP led NDA government, Manish Tewari sought a response from the company on the matter. Tewari also noted that the allegation of Facebook bending its Global Hate Speech Policies at the behest of the Indian executive is a direct assault on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
Manish Tewari’s letter to Facebook opens up a Pandora’s box.
Mr Tewari wrote a letter to Facebook management on 18th August, where he says that Facebook management can get in touch with his senior policy advisor Bharat Gopalaswamy in the USA. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/f5jqTnJBhw
Apart from seeking response from Facebook on the WSJ article, Manish Tewari also informed the company that if they want to add any additional thought, and if they require any immediate assistance or clarification in the matter, they can contact his senior policy advisor Dr. Bharath Gopalaswamy of Washington DC.
Now, this revelation that Bharath Gopalaswamy is Manish Terwari’s ‘senior policy advisor’ has opened a pandora’s box, according to Amit Malviya.
This is because, Bharath Gopalaswamy was the Director in an organisation that works with Facebook to manage content related to politics and elections. He was the director of the Atlantic Council from 2013 to 2019. In 2018, Facebook had entered into a partnership with the Washington DC based Atlantic Council to use their services to prevent ‘abuse of their service’ during elections and other sensitive occasions.
A statement issued by Facebook had said that the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council works closely with Facebook to provide real-time insights and updates on emerging threats and disinformation campaigns from around the world. “This will help increase the number of “eyes and ears” we have working to spot potential abuse on our service — enabling us to more effectively identify gaps in our systems, preempt obstacles, and ensure that Facebook plays a positive role during elections all around the world,” Facebook had said.
They had also informed that they will Atlantic services during elections and other highly sensitive moments, which will allow them to focus on a particular geographic area. The agreement between Atlantic Council and Facebook makes it clear that the former decides who is spreading misinformation and who is not, and based on their input, Facebook takes action.
Although Atlantic Council is known as a bipartisan and centrist organisation, it actually specialises in working with political and ideological propaganda. It has been accused to be a tool of American imperialist forces, with the ability to manipulate and influence political outcomes in countries around the world to suit American interests.
According to Amit Malviya, when a large number of pages were deleted by Facebook last year, the following of deleted pro-right wing pages were much more than the following of deleted pro-Congress pages. He informs that this process was led by the Atlantic Council.
“In light of these revelations, it is puzzling that the INC, at the first instance, has clandestinely chosen to use the services of Bharat Gopalaswamy to lobby for INC with Facebook. It is clear that by using the services of Think Tanks/its members, who use the charade of academic neutrality, INC has compromised its position. It is clear such alliances and services are used to gain access to FB’s management to influence the political process in India,” Amit Malviya said.
He said that such an explicit relation of Congress leaders with overseas influencer raises ethical and conflict of interest issues. Amit Malviya also expressed surprise that the Congress was using the services of a lobbyist to influence a private company like Facebook. “Lobbyists are the paid persuaders whose job is to influence the decision of Govts, but what amazes us is the use of such persuaders to influence the decisions of private corporations like Facebook,” he said.
Another important point raised by Amit Malviya is the issue of a sitting MP of Parliament using the services of a foreign lobbyist.
It may be noted that Manish Tewari himself was also associated with Atlantic Council, he had joined the organisation in 2017 as a senior fellow. Later that year, he had hosted Rahul Gandhi at an event in the organisation in Washington DC in September 2017.
Great to host @OfficeOfRG at the Atlantic Council in Washington DC.Absorbing incisive & thoughtful interaction with leaders of real economy pic.twitter.com/iEHQNUYnRT
This shows that, while Congress alleges Facebook of being partial towards BJP based on a report which was based on unknown sources, the party’s senior leadership has been associated with an influential organisation that has the power to control the political narrative on Facebook. In the words of Amit Malviya, “To operate behind close doors through quiet negotiations by using array of tactics to shape public opinion, the Indian National Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi and her son, has touched a new low in the politics.”
It may be noted while Manish Tewari says in his letter dated 18th that Facebook has not responded to the WAJ article, actually the company had already refuted the claims made in the article a day before. On 17th August, a Facebook spokesperson had said, “We prohibit hate speech & content that incites violence & we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone’s political position/party affiliation. We’re making progress on enforcement & conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness & accuracy.”
