Facebook denies allegations after hashtag 'Anti-IndiaFacebook' dominates Twitter

Amid a hate speech row, Facebook on August 17 clarified that it prohibits hate speech and content that incites violence. In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said the company enforces policies globally without regard to anyone's political position or affiliation.

The statement is a response to the article published in Wall Street Journal claiming that Facebook ignored applying its hate speech rules to politicians of the ruling party in India to avoid damaging the social media platform’s business prospects.

The article had alleged that a top Facebook India official had told staffers to not punish violations by BJP members as it “would damage the company’s business prospects in the country."

"We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone’s political position/party affiliation. We are making progress on enforcement and conduct regular audits of our process to ensure fairness and accuracy," a Facebook spokesperson was quoted as saying by ANI.