Facebook to monitor content as Indian states go to polls

INDIA is now holding multi-phase elections in four states and considering that Facebook Inc has taken steps to combat hate speech and misinformation.

"We recognize that there are certain types of content, such as hate speech, that could lead to imminent, offline harm," the social networking giant said in a blog post yesterday (30).

Facebook's biggest market is India and its WhatsApp chat service is among the most popular in the country, counting around 500 million users alone.

Moreover, the Mark Zuckerberg owned company has had previously come under fire globally for failing to control hate speech.

In India, last year, Facebook's top lobbyist quit after a report suggested the way the social media network regulated political content favouring the ruling party.

The company's policy were questioned by the opposition parties but Facebook defended by saying it "remains committed to be an open and transparent platform."

Elections in the states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and union territory Puducherry are a test of prime minister Narendra Modi's popularity and its party amid a farmers' protest against the new agricultural laws.

In order to manage content during the polls, Facebook said it will work "to decrease the risk of problematic content going viral in these states and potentially inciting violence ahead of or during the election, we will significantly reduce the distribution of content that our proactive detection technology identifies as likely hate speech or violence and incitement."