Report on Facebook ignoring hate speech rules triggers slugfest: Rahul Gandhi accuses BJP of spreading ‘fake news’

A slugfest erupted between the Congress and the BJP on Sunday following a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Facebook ignored applying its hate speech rules to politicians of the ruling party in India.

Seizing on the report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and RSS of spreading “fake news” using Facebook and WhatsApp to influence the electorate, triggering a sharp counter-attack from Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who reminded the opposition party of the Cambridge Analytica issue.