NEW DELHI, India (AP) Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly anti-Muslim content, according to leaked documents obtained by The Associated Press, even as its own employees cast doubt over the companys motivations and interests.

From research as recent as March of this year to company memos that date back to 2019, the internal company documents on India highlight Facebooks constant struggles in quashing abusive content on its platforms in the worlds biggest democracy and the companys largest growth market. Communal and religious tensions in India have a history of boiling over on social media and stoking violence.

The files show that Facebook has been aware of the problems for years, raising questions over whether it has done enough to address these issues. Many critics and digital experts say it has failed to do so, especially in cases where members of Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJP, are involved.

Across the world, Facebook has become increasingly important in politics, and India is no different.

Modi has been credited for leveraging the platform to his partys advantage during elections, and reporting from The Wall Street Journal last year cast doubt over whether Facebook was selectively enforcing its policies on hate speech to avoid blowback from the BJP. Both Modi and Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have exuded bonhomie, memorialized by a 2015 image of the two hugging at the Facebook headquarters.

The leaked documents include a trove of internal company reports on hate speech and misinformation in India. In some cases, much of it was intensified by its own recommended feature and algorithms. But they also include the company staffers concerns over the mishandling of these issues and their discontent expressed about the viral malcontent on the platform.

According to the documents, Facebook saw India as one of the most at risk countries in the world and identified both Hindi and Bengali languages as priorities for automation on violating hostile speech. Yet, Facebook didnt have enough local language moderators or content-flagging in place to stop misinformation that at times led to real-world violence.

In a statement to the AP, Facebook said it has invested significantly in technology to find hate speech in various languages, including Hindi and Bengali which has resulted in reduced amount of hate speech that people see by half in 2021.

Hate speech against marginalized groups, including Muslims, is on the rise globally. So we are improving enforcement and are committed to updating our policies as hate speech evolves online, a company spokesperson said.

This AP story, along with others being published, is based on disclosures made to the Securities and Exchange Commission and provided to Congress in redacted form by former Facebook employee-turned-whistleblower Frances Haugens legal counsel. The redacted versions were obtained by a consortium of news organizations, including the AP.