To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role of (a) Facebook, (b) WhatsApp and (c) other social media platforms in contributing to recent incidents of intercommunal violence in India.
Answered on
29 November 2018
We are aware that some social media platforms have been used in India and elsewhere to contribute to violent acts. Intercommunal violence is never acceptable, whether or not driven by social media. We continue to work with different groups in India to examine the challenges posed by fake news, which can be a contributing factor to this type of violence. Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's India Network and central teams in London monitor closely reports of human rights abuses, raising issues where appropriate with the Government of India. We are in regular contact with minority representatives in India as well as human rights activists and NGOs.