Facebook Executive Supported India’s Modi, Disparaged Opposition in Internal Messages
Some employees said the sentiments and actions conflicted with the company’s longstanding neutrality pledge
By
Jeff Horwitz
and
Newley Purnell
Aug. 30, 2020 1:42 pm ET
A Facebook Inc. executive at the center of a political storm in India made internal postings over several years detailing her support for the now ruling Hindu nationalist party and disparaging its main rival, behavior some staff saw as conflicting with the company’s pledge to remain neutral in elections around the world.
In one of the messages, Ankhi Das, head of public policy in the country, posted the day before Narendra Modi swept to victory in India’s 2014 national elections: “We lit a fire to his social media campaign...