I’m proud to say that my colleague Jeff Horwitz and were honored earlier this week with a 2020 “Best in Business” award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) for our coverage of Facebook in India. We won the international reporting award (for large news organizations).
From the judging comments:
“This well-documented set of impactful stories reveals how Facebook and its executives in India are conflicted, or even willfully blind, when company policy calls for blocking hate speech but company interests include working with a governing party closely linked to that hate speech.”
And:
“Sobering reporting on a fundamental worldwide concern that resonates strongly with the ongoing turmoil over social media and hate speech in the U.S.”
Among our stories on the topic, which I’ve linked to here before:
- Facebook’s Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics (Aug. 14)
- Facebook Staff Demand Policy Changes on India Hate Speech (Aug. 21)
- Facebook Executive Supported India’s Modi, Disparaged Opposition in Internal Messages (Aug. 30)
- Facebook, Under Pressure in India, Bans Politician for Hate Speech (Sept. 3)
- Facebook’s Top Public Policy Executive in India Steps Down
- In India, Facebook Fears Crackdown on Hate Groups Could Backfire on Its Staff (Dec. 13)
(Oct. 27)