‘Young and old minds...’: Sonia Gandhi hits out at govt, and Facebook

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi speaking in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday urged the government to end the influence of social media in electoral politics. She added that social media is being abused to “hack our democracy”.

“Thank you for allowing me to take up an issue of paramount importance - rising danger of social media being abused to hack our democracy. Global companies like Facebook and Twitter are used increasingly to shape political narratives by leaders, parties and their proxies,” Sonia Gandhi stated.

Young and old minds are being filled with hate through emotionally charged disinformation and proxy advertising companies like FB are aware of it and are profiting from it. Report shows a growing nexus between big corporations, the ruling establishment and global social media giants like FB, Sonia Gandhi said in Lok Sabha.

She said that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are being manipulated to set political narratives in India.

“Global companies like Facebook and Twitter are increasingly being used to shape political narratives by leaders, parties and their proxies. This shows the connivance of the ruling establishment with these social media platforms to set political narratives, which is not helpful for democracy and the democratic structure,” Sonia Gandhi said.

“It has repeatedly come to public notice that global social media companies aren’t providing a level playing field to all parties... [There is a] blatant manner in which social harmony is being disturbed by Facebook,” she said in the Lok Sabha.

In her address, Sonia Gandhi urged the government to put an end to “systematic influence and interference of Facebook and other social media giants in electoral politics of the world’s largest democracy”. “This is beyond parties and politics. We need to protect our democracy and social harmony, regardless of who’s in power,” she said.

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