<p>Social media giant Facebook could not take action or flag hate content in India, given its “lack of Hindi and Bengali classifiers”, according to a whistleblower complaint.</p>.<p>Whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Facebook’s practices, flagged that Facebook’s language capabilities are “inadequate” and lead to “global misinformation and ethnic violence”. </p>.<p>The documents submitted by Haugen are from reference research and findings by Facebook’s own researchers. Among those, some related to India, referencing what they said were fear-mongering and dehumanising content promoted by Facebook accounts allegedly run by or associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/zuckerberg-s-early-notes-on-privacy-now-haunt-facebook-in-suit-1038158.html" target="_blank">Zuckerberg’s early notes on privacy now haunt Facebook in suit</a></strong></p>.<p>"Despite being aware that RSS users, groups, and pages promote fear-mongering, anti-Muslim narratives, Facebook could not take action or flag the content due to its lack of Hindi and Bengali classifiers”, according to a whistleblower complaint filed before the US securities regulator, a <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/facebook-whistleblower-data-scientist-frances-haugen-india-content-7556811/" target="_blank">report</a> by <em>The Indian Express</em> said.</p>.<p>Citing an undated internal Facebook document titled “Adversarial Harmful Networks-India Case study”, Haugen said that “there were a number of dehumanising posts (on) Muslims… Our lack of Hindu and Bengali classifiers means much of this content is never flagged or actioned, and we have yet to put forth a nomination for designation of this group (RSS) given political sensitivities.”</p>.<p>Only 0.2 per cent of the reported hate speech is taken down by automated checks, according to the documents cited, which also flags a lack of language classifiers, which will be able to check for translations as well, said a <em>Hindustan Times</em> <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/facebook-whistle-blower-s-complaint-details-importance-of-indian-polls-duplicate-accounts-hate-speech-101633501776720.html" target="_blank">report</a>.</p>.<p>Currently India is ranked among the topmost bucket of countries by Facebook in terms of its policy priorities. As of January-March 2020, India, along with Brazil and the US, is part of “Tier 0” countries, the complaint shows; “Tier 1” includes Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Israel and Italy.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Social media giant Facebook could not take action or flag hate content in India, given its “lack of Hindi and Bengali classifiers”, according to a whistleblower complaint.</p>.<p>Whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Facebook’s practices, flagged that Facebook’s language capabilities are “inadequate” and lead to “global misinformation and ethnic violence”. </p>.<p>The documents submitted by Haugen are from reference research and findings by Facebook’s own researchers. Among those, some related to India, referencing what they said were fear-mongering and dehumanising content promoted by Facebook accounts allegedly run by or associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).</p>.<p><strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/zuckerberg-s-early-notes-on-privacy-now-haunt-facebook-in-suit-1038158.html" target="_blank">Zuckerberg’s early notes on privacy now haunt Facebook in suit</a></strong></p>.<p>"Despite being aware that RSS users, groups, and pages promote fear-mongering, anti-Muslim narratives, Facebook could not take action or flag the content due to its lack of Hindi and Bengali classifiers”, according to a whistleblower complaint filed before the US securities regulator, a <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/social/facebook-whistleblower-data-scientist-frances-haugen-india-content-7556811/" target="_blank">report</a> by <em>The Indian Express</em> said.</p>.<p>Citing an undated internal Facebook document titled “Adversarial Harmful Networks-India Case study”, Haugen said that “there were a number of dehumanising posts (on) Muslims… Our lack of Hindu and Bengali classifiers means much of this content is never flagged or actioned, and we have yet to put forth a nomination for designation of this group (RSS) given political sensitivities.”</p>.<p>Only 0.2 per cent of the reported hate speech is taken down by automated checks, according to the documents cited, which also flags a lack of language classifiers, which will be able to check for translations as well, said a <em>Hindustan Times</em> <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/facebook-whistle-blower-s-complaint-details-importance-of-indian-polls-duplicate-accounts-hate-speech-101633501776720.html" target="_blank">report</a>.</p>.<p>Currently India is ranked among the topmost bucket of countries by Facebook in terms of its policy priorities. As of January-March 2020, India, along with Brazil and the US, is part of “Tier 0” countries, the complaint shows; “Tier 1” includes Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Israel and Italy.</p>.<p><strong>Check out latest DH videos here:</strong></p>