Ex-FB staffer: Policy honchos often interfere in content moderation

New delhi: Continuing its hearings over the role of Facebook in the north-east Delhi riots this February, the Delhi Assembly's Peace and Harmony Committee on Thursday questioned Mark S Luckie, a former employee of the social media giant, who deposed that the company had many unusual practices in terms of moderating hate speech, especially when political parties are involved.

Luckie told the panel that top officials of Facebook regularly interfered in the workings of the content moderation team when political parties are involved. The interference also came from top officials in the company's public policy heads, he said, adding that events like the riots in Delhi could have been avoided if Facebook had acted in time.

The witness said Facebook had been creating policies with respect to efficient content moderation that are not consistent or transparent and are developed in a manner that suits Facebook and its business model rather than the people who have been victimised by its inefficient policies.

Luckie deposed that the company had specific hiring policies that allowed them to pick and choose people in policy positions who are or have cordial relations with the respective government. He further said that the practice of hiring such candidates has made it unsafe for minority communities and added that Algorithms can be manipulated and stated that they are in fact being manipulated by Facebook.

While the panel had earlier looked into deposing Facebook India chief Ajit Mohan, he had challenged the summons in court after which the matter went up to the Supreme Court.