MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2021) Facebook's products have turned into a tool for inciting religious hatred in India, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing an internal report.
According to a July 2020 report, the social network services in India were awash with inflammatory content that has surged 300% above previous levels since December 2019 when religious protests swept the country, the newspaper said late on Saturday.
Rumors and calls for violence spread engulfed in particular Facebook's WhatsApp messenger in late February 2020, the internal report found, when mass unrest in New Delhi left 53 dead.
Hindu and Muslim users in India are reported to face "a large amount of content that encourages conflict, hatred and violence on Facebook and WhatsApp," including material accusing Muslims of allegedly spreading the coronavirus, among others, the WSJ said, adding that many users believe that it was Facebook's responsibility to reduce this inflammatory content on its services.
The social network has made headlines after its former product manager and whistleblower Frances Haugen told a congressional testimony in early October that the social network was allegedly being aware it inflicted harm on the mental health of teenagers but did not do much to prevent content promoting "hate and division," putting profit over users' safety. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday dismissed the accusations, adding that the platform cares "deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health."
