Facebook's internal research found that inflammatory content on the platform spiked 300% in the months leading up to the Delhi riots, and calls for violence were spread using Whatsapp, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The internal report titled 'Communal Conflict in India Part 1' interviewed dozens of Indians who said that they found “a large amount of content that encourages conflict, hatred and violence on Facebook and WhatsApp.” Facebook has routinely failed to control hate speech and misinformation in India, at times bowing to political pressure from the Indian government. The leaked documents reveal that Facebook is aware of the extent of hate Indians are exposed to on the platform, and that recommendations made by its own team on curbing hate speech went unheard. Hindu nationalist groups posted anti-Muslim content According to the WSJ report, Facebook researchers identified two Hindu nationalist groups, the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, that spread "inflammatory anti-Muslim content" on the platform: Bajrang Dal: Researchers at Facebook found in a report that the Bajrang Dal "used WhatsApp to organize and incite violence," and recommended that the group be taken down, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: In a separate report reviewed by the Journal, researchers found that the RSS was responsible for posting anti-Muslim content including posts that: compared Muslims to pigs and dogs spread misinformation claiming the Quran calls for men to rape female family members claimed Muslim clerics spit on food to make it halal or spread COVID-19…
