Facebook India public policy head Das quits months after hate speech row

Firm says Ankhi Das left to pursue 'public service'. In an internal note it says her leaving is not linked to "recent media reports regarding claims of anti-Muslim bias"

Facebook's Public Policy Head for India, South and Central Asia Ankhi Das, who faced backlash after it was alleged that the social media firm opposed to apply hate speech policies against certain individuals close to ruling BJP, has resigned. 

In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the company said Das had quit to pursue her interest in “public service”. In another internal note, the company said that her departure was “not connected to the recent media reports regarding claims of anti-Muslim bias”. "As we said at the time, we take allegations of bias incredibly seriously, and want to make it clear that we denounce hate and bigotry in any form," said the note.

This development comes days after Das and Ajit Mohan, managing director of Facebook India, were grilled by a joint parliamentary committee that met to discuss on Personal Data Protection Bill. The team was asked probing questions on the tax it pays and the revenue generated from its 300 million users in the country. During the meeting, a member suggested that the social media giant should not use data of its users for the benefit of its advertisers.

The company is learnt to have asked Shivnath Thukral, currently director of public policy for WhatsApp in India, to lead the team temporarily. 

“Ankhi was one of our earliest employees in India and played an instrumental role in the growth of the company and its services over the last 9 years. She has been a part of my leadership team over the last 2 years, a role in which she has made enormous contributions. We are grateful for her service and wish her the very best for the future,” Mohan said in a statement.

In an internal mail shared with the India team, Das said: "We were a small unlisted start-up back then (when she joined in 2011) guided only by our mission and purpose to connect people in India. After nine long years, I feel that mission has largely been me. Thank you, Mark, for creating something beautiful for the world. I hope I have served you and the company well. I know we will be in touch on Facebook.”

In August, The Wall Street Journal had published a report in which it mentioned that the tech giant had overlooked its hate speech policies in the cases of Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh and three other “Hindu nationalist individuals and groups” in order to safeguard the social media platform’s business prospects.The Journal article also stated that one of Facebook’s top public policy executives in India “opposed applying hate-speech rules” to individuals linked with the BJP despite being flagged internally for promoting violence.