Facebook Whistleblower Sophie Zhang Unlikely To Testify Before Lok Sabha Panel

Zhang found that Facebook allowed political manipulation across 25 countries, including India.

Sophie Zhang, a data scientist-turned-whistleblower who worked at Facebook between 2018 to 2020, will likely not get to testify before the Standing Committee on Communication and Information & Technology.

"It's been 13 months since I came forward as a whistleblower, and 6 months since the Lok Sabha asked for Speaker Om Birla to approve my testimony," she said.

"I still have not heard from the honourable speaker. I no longer believe that I will ever hear from him."

Sophie Zhang

In November 2021, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, chairperson of the committee, had said that he had sought permission from the Speaker to allow Zhang to depose before the panel, since in person testimonies by witnesses from outside India requires the consent of the Speaker.

However, at the last committee meeting, Tharoor said that the Speaker’s office has neither granted nor denied permission for the deposition, The Hindu reported.

'Political Manipulation in 25 Countries'

Zhang, who worked with the Facebook Site Integrity fake engagement team, found that Facebook allowed political manipulation across 25 countries, including India.

"When I found fake accounts manipulating Indian politics, FB approved their removal – until they discovered that some of them were being run by a sitting Member of Parliament."

Sophie Zhang

Zhang says she wrote a 7,800-word internal memo that was leaked to the press, after which she testified privately to the INGE committee of the European Parliament on 2020.

In 2021, she went public with The Guardian and testified before the British parliament.

"In India during late 2019 and early 2020, I found an eventual total of five separate networks of fake accounts across the political spectrum supporting the INC (two), AAP (one), and BJP (two)," she wrote in a Reddit post.

She added that the pro-AAP network was "acting to manipulate discourse" in the Delhi 2020 elections, and she was able to have four out of the five networks taken down.

"FB employees approved the takedown of the fifth network, one supporting the BJP, but everything suddenly went silent after we discovered they were connected to the account of the benefiting MP."

Sophie Zhang

Zhang had earlier shared a dossier with Tharoor, according to The Hindu, which was circulated among the members and will be part of the committee's evidence.

Officials from Facebook, however, reportedly rubbished Zhang's claims in front of the panel, saying she lacked direct knowledge or access on the systems she has commented on.

(With inputs from The Hindu and The Guardian)