Fresh Delhi summons to Facebook India

Ajit Mohan had refused to be questioned by the Committee on Peace and Harmony on the social media giant’s alleged culpability in the communal riots in February that claimed 53 lives

TT, New Delhi, 21.09.20: The Delhi Assembly’s Committee on Peace and Harmony has issued fresh summons to Facebook’s India head Ajit Mohan, who had refused to be questioned by the panel on the social media giant’s alleged culpability in communal riots here in February that claimed 53 lives.

The committee, which sent the summons on Friday, warned of punitive action if Mohan refuses to appear on Wednesday.

Committee chairperson Raghav Chadha said in a statement: “Any rebuttal or disregard to this subsequent notice shall be deemed as a wilful act of breach of privilege and thus shall entail various proceedings initiated against Facebook India.…”

“Having regards to their disobedience, the committee mulled over exercising its powers and privileges conferred to it by the Constitution of India by applying its penal jurisdiction against Facebook after affording them one last opportunity to appear before the committee,” he said.

Facebook is yet to respond to queries this paper sent them last week on their response to the panel.

The company had earlier written to the panel that only the Centre, and not a state or union territory government, could regulate communications in India.

Mohan had appeared before the parliamentary standing committee on information technology earlier this month amid reports of the company’s inaction on hate speech by BJP MLAs.

After the hearing, Facebook removed several accounts in the name of Telangana’s BJP MLA T. Raja Singh. In previous hearings of the Delhi Assembly’s committee, expert witnesses, including journalists, had alleged that Facebook officials might have deliberately ignored hateful posts on the platform that incited the riots.

Last week, Buzzfeed News reported a leaked memo of a former Facebook staff that accused the company of ignoring or acting slow on fake accounts that undermined elections across the world, and that the company has not disclosed the existence of such a network to influence Assembly polls in Delhi, earlier this year.