Probe Facebook-BJP links, punish guilty: Rahul Gandhi

Congress on Tuesday stepped up attack on Facebook-WhatsApp with Rahul Gandhi accusing the social networking firm of launching a brazen attack on India’s democracy and social harmony and demanding an immediate investigation into the matter.

“International media have fully exposed Facebook's & WhatsApp's brazen assault on India's democracy & social harmony. No one, let alone a foreign company, can be allowed to interfere in our nation's affairs,” the former Congress President said.

Rahul demanded an immediate investigation in the two companies and called for punishment if found guilty.

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Congress accused Facebook of helping BJP achieve its aim of ‘divide and rule’ by manipulating public opinion.

“The blasphemous nexus between the BJP and Facebook is for all to witness and must be investigated without delay,” the Congress said in a statement here.

The main opposition party said articles in international media have revealed “that Facebook and WhatsApp have been used to ‘fire Mr Modi and BJP’s social media campaign’, (to) spread hate and disharmony within India”.

BJP has hit back at the Congress, by levelling counter-allegations that Facebook officials sympathetic to the opposition party of leaking BJP’s letters to the social networking firm.

Facebook India officials are scheduled to appear before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, on Wednesday, to respond to news reports in a section of the international media.

After the reports alleging nexus between Facebook and BJP appeared last month, Facebook issued a statement saying that it was “open, transparent and non-partisan platform”.