Meta's Indian team reportedly delayed addressing an alleged organized propaganda and misinformation campaign orchestrated by the Indian Army's Chinar Corps in Jammu and Kashmir for a year, as per The Washington Post citing former company employees. The delay was attributed to concerns about antagonizing the government and potential legal consequences for local staff. Army officials defended the operation to representatives of Twitter and Facebook, claiming it was a response to Pakistani misinformation networks, reported The Hindu.
The Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) team at Meta, responsible for identifying fake profiles and networks, raised concerns about the Chinar Corps operation. However, Indian Meta staff reportedly discouraged any pushback, fearing repercussions from the government.
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"The Chinar Corps' violation of Facebook's rules, which prohibit the use of fictional personas to clandestinely promote a narrative, was crystal clear," stated an employee involved in the Kashmir project. "This incident marked a pivotal moment, one that severely tested the resolve of our CIB team and nearly led several of us to contemplate resignation," The Washington Post reported.
The Kashmir situation serves as just one instance of Facebook's perceived failure to uphold its stated principles in India, a situation exacerbated by the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In a nation where 80 percent of the population is Hindu and 14 percent is Muslim, India has grappled with longstanding religious tensions. However, over the past decade, the Hindu nationalist BJP has faced allegations of encouraging violence and promoting provocative rhetoric against Muslims to galvanize political support. In instances where detrimental content is disseminated by BJP politicians or their associates on Facebook, the platform has often displayed reluctance to intervene, despite denying any bias towards the BJP, The Washington Post quoted.
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The nature of the disinformation campaign by the Chinar Corps remains unclear, but it allegedly jeopardized Kashmiri journalists' safety, prompting several CIB employees at Facebook to resign.
The disinformation efforts reportedly targeted The Kashmiriyat, a media outlet based in Srinagar, and its editor Qazi Shibli. The Hindu has sought comments from Army representatives regarding the allegations, The Hindu reported.
In response, Meta stated that as a global company, it operates in a complex regulatory environment, prioritizing user safety and employee well-being in accordance with applicable laws and human rights principles. The company emphasized its prohibition of coordinated inauthentic behavior on its platforms.
This incident is not the first time Meta has faced accusations of neglecting propaganda networks in India. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that despite warnings from Meta's U.S. staff, posts by Telangana BJP MLA T. Raja Singh advocating violence against Rohingya immigrants were not removed due to resistance from Ankhi Das, the predecessor of Mr. Thukral, the current head of Meta's public policy in India.
