Facebook has not banned a militant group in India as it fears for business interests, staff safety

(Karachi) Facebook in India fears that banning hate groups, especially the Bajrang Dal, which has been involved in violent activities, could put lives of its staff in danger, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

As per details, the social media firm’s security workforce had confirmed in its report that Bajrang Dal supports violence against minorities, especially Muslims across India and sure certified as a “harmful group” that ought to be banned from the platform.

However, in view of of the warnings from its safety team, Facebook fears that cracking down on Bajrang Dal would possibly put firm's business prospects and its staff in India at risk. The report further mentioned that banning India's religious militant organisation could result in physical assaults to Facebook workers.

In June, dozens of Bajrang Dal activists attacked a Pentecostal church near New Delhi, claiming it was constructed atop a Hindu temple. The group placed a Hindu idol in protest, and also manhandled and punched a pastor.

Later, the militant group claimed responsibility of the attack in a video describing the incursion that has been seen virtually 250,000 instances on Facebook.

Commenting on the matter, Facebook Spokesman Andy Stone said: “We implement our Harmful People and Organizations coverage globally with out regard to political place or celebration affiliation.”

He said that banning Bajrang Dal might endanger Facebook’s workers and affect business activity, however he declined to say whether or not the social media company had finally decided that the group didn’t qualify as being harmful.

In a letter and posts on Facebook's dialogue teams, the social media organisation workers mentioned that the presence of Bajrang Dal on its platform, amongst different organizations, casts doubt on the company’s commitment to deal with hate speech in India.

Bajrang Dal has been deemed a militant spiritual group by the US Central Intelligence Company and is convicted of hate crimes and religiously motivated killings. The extremist Hindu militant organisation has killed many individuals in the past for opposing Hinduism.

Earlier in August, Facebook’s former public-policy head in India, Ankhi Das, opposed efforts to use hate-speech guidelines to some Hindu nationalist politicians and Bajrang Dal was amongst these entities that had been flagged internally for selling or collaborating in violence.