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Facebook Caught In India Political Storm
~4.4 mins read
The social media giant is accused of going easy on ruling BJP supporters who allegedly violated hate speech rules.
But the BJP is also irked with Facebook - it has accused it of bias against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The company denies the allegations, but the row puts it in a precarious position in its biggest market.
The app is hugely popular in India, with more than 300 million users - and so is its messaging platform, WhatsApp, which has 400 million users.
Details were unlikely to emerge immediately as the parliamentary committee session is a closed-door hearing.
The allegations first appeared in a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last month. The company insists that it doesn't allow hate speech on its platforms.
"We prohibit hate speech and content that incites violence and we enforce these policies globally without regard to anyone's political position or party affiliation," Facebook told the BBC in an email recently.
But the WSJ investigation immediately sparked calls for an inquiry, leading to Wednesday's parliamentary hearing. Facebook's head of business for India, Ajit Mohan, is expected to appear before the 30-member committee.
The committee has members from all political parties but it is led by Shashi Tharoor, an outspoken MP from the main opposition Congress party.
The closed-door hearing will cover Facebook policies on "safeguarding citizens' rights" and preventing the "misuse of social/ online news media platforms" among other things.

What are the allegations against Facebook?

The company is accused of allowing anti-Muslim rhetoric and other content on the platform, in what the WSJ said was favouritism towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The report said that Facebook deleted some anti-Muslim posts by a BJP lawmaker only after the paper asked about them. It also alleged that similar posts by at least three others, who supported the BJP, were not taken down even after they were flagged for violating the company's hate speech rules.

At the centre of the allegations is the person who allegedly made the decision not to delete these posts - Ankhi Das, Facebook's top public policy executive in India.
According to the paper, Ms Das told employees that "punishing violations by politicians from Mr Modi's party would damage the company's business prospects in the country".
Ms Das is the subject of a second report by the WSJ, published over the weekend, which alleges that she supported the BJP and Mr Modi, while denigrating the opposition parties in internal messages.
Facebook, however, denied it favoured any political party, and said these messages were taken out of context.

What does this mean for Facebook?

It's unclear what will be the result of the hearing. But the lack of clear Indian laws that regulate such global platforms makes any sort of enforcement hard.
What also complicates matters is the growing influence of social media in elections - Facebook and WhatsApp, especially, play a huge role in Indian politics. Parties, lawmakers and aspiring leaders all use the platforms to mobilise voters, whip up fervour and even shape opinion.

But Facebook's reputation has certainly taken a further hit, as it continues to struggle with similar allegations in other countries. And the storm that is brewing is just the latest in a series of controversies that have marred Facebook's reputation in India, a lucrative market where it hopes to expand.
The company has previously been accused of doing too little to curb fake news and rumours, including those on WhatsApp that were linked to public lynching of some people. And before that, its plan to offer free internet to Indians was stopped by the government after a public outcry alleged that it violated net neutrality.

What are political parties saying?

India's IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, accusing its employees of "abusing" PM Modi and other senior cabinet ministers.
He also said that he had learnt that Facebook had made a "concerted effort" to reduce the BJP's reach in the run up to the 2019 election.
The main opposition Congress party has also written to Mr Zuckerberg, accusing his company of "thwarting the rights and values India's founding leaders had sacrificed their lives for".
A second letter said the party was considering "legislative and judicial action" to make sure "a foreign company cannot continue to cause social disharmony".
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Mmsh350
Pasta Alla Norma With Eggplant, Basil & Pecorino
~2.5 mins read
While we can’t just hop a flight to Italy, we can channel our inner nonna with a heaping plate of pasta. Behold pasta alla Norma, the next best thing to a sunny Italian getaway.

The Sicilian dish, which hails from from the city of Catania, traditionally stars eggplant, tomatoes, basil and ricotta salata (a type of pressed and aged ricotta cheese). We subbed in pecorino, which is more widely available, but either will taste delicious. The whole thing is vegetarian, totally satisfying and extremely simple to make. Best of all, four servings will cost you less than $10. That calls for a toast, don’t you think?

RELATED: Why You Should Never Add Olive Oil to Your Pasta Water

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large eggplant, sliced into 1-inch strips

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¾ teaspoon dried oregano

1 pound bite-size dry pasta, like rigatoni or macaroni

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

½ cup grated pecorino or ricotta salata cheese

Directions:

1. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant in batches and cook on all sides until golden brown. Remove the eggplant from the pan and set aside on a large plate. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. To the same pan, add the onion and sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute more.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the red pepper flakes and oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until the flavor of the sauce develops and concentrates slightly, 15 to 20 minutes.

4. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to the instructions on the package. Drain well.

5. Add the pasta and eggplant to the sauce; toss to coat. Add the parsley, basil and pecorino or ricotta salata, and toss well to combine.

Nutrition:

748 calories

21g fat

119g carbs

26g protein

22g sugars

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