Former Facebook data analyst and whistleblower Sophie Zhang stated that the social media giant was selective in removing fake accounts during the 2020 Delhi elections. She had highlighted that Facebook deactivated three of four fake accounts, with the fourth one being personally handled by a member of parliament from the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
She also stated that Facebook prioritized the removal of fake accounts because India is more important to Facebook than Azerbaijan or Honduras, where she found fake news being shared on Facebook pages but the company refused to take action due to the relatively low number of users in those countries.
Zhang added that Facebook is not concerned about India’s democracy and places profits above all. Zhang was sacked by Facebook in 2020 due to poor performance. Zhang has now announced that she is willing to appear before the Lok Sabha if the government wishes to probe Facebook operations in India.
