
NEW DELHI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Social media giant Facebook on Thursday banned India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) local lawmaker T Raja Singh in the southern state of Telangana for what it said violating its hate speech policies.
The step was taken amid growing controversy in India over how the social media company regulates its political content.
"We have banned Raja Singh from Facebook for violating our policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence and hate from having a presence on our platform. The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to Facebook's decision to remove his account," local media quoted a statement of Facebook as having said.
Last month a report in foreign media, Wall Street Journal (WSJ), alleged that its content policies favored BJP in India. The report alleged that Facebook had ignored posts containing hate speech by Singh.
Following the report, the opposition Congress party and BJP have been attacking each other over Facebook's alleged bias.
On Wednesday a parliamentary panel summoned Facebook representatives to discuss the issue of alleged misuse of the social media platform.
Prior to it, India's federal information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, accusing the social media platform's employees of supporting people from a political predisposition that lost successive elections, and "abusing" the prime minister and senior cabinet ministers.
During Wednesday's panel meeting, parliamentarians from both BJP and Congress questioned Facebook of its leanings, reports said.
Fire brigade in Shanghai holds group wedding
Tourists enjoy ice sculptures in Datan Town, north China
Sunset scenery of Dayan Pagoda in Xi'an
Tourists have fun at scenic spot in Nanlong Town, NW China
Harbin attracts tourists by making best use of ice in winter
In pics: FIS Alpine Ski Women's World Cup Slalom
Black-necked cranes rest at reservoir in Lhunzhub County, Lhasa
China's FAST telescope will be available to foreign scientists in April
"She power" plays indispensable role in poverty alleviation
Top 10 world news events of People's Daily in 2020
Top 10 China news events of People's Daily in 2020
Top 10 media buzzwords of 2020
Year-ender:10 major tourism stories of 2020
No interference in Venezuelan issues
Biz prepares for trade spat
Broadcasting Continent
Australia wins Chinese CEOs as US loses