Following years of allegations that it ignored online abuses that stoked real-world bloodshed in nations like India and Myanmar, Facebook owner Meta published its first annual human rights report.

The report, which covers due diligence completed in 2020 and 2021, contains a summary of a contentious study on India's human rights impact that Meta hired the legal team at Foley Hoag to complete.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, two human rights organizations, have demanded the full publication of the India report and have accused Meta of holding it up in a joint letter written in January.

The legal firm's findings about the possibility for ‘salient human rights risks’ utilizing Meta's platforms, such as advocacy of hatred that incites hostility, discrimination, or violence.

The assessment did not go into ‘accusations of bias in content moderation’, it was said.

India Civil Watch International's Ratik Asokan, who took part in the evaluation and later coordinated the joint letter, told Reuters that the summary appeared to be an effort by Meta to ‘whitewash’ the firm's conclusions.

The summary has also been criticized by Human Rights Watch researcher Deborah Brown as being ‘selective’ and ‘bringing us no closer’ to comprehending the company's contribution to the spread of hate speech in India or the commitments it would make to solve the problem.

Rights organizations have been warning about anti-Muslim hate speech escalating tensions in India, Meta's largest user base globally, for years.

"It's as clear evidence as you can get that they're very uncomfortable with the information that's in that report," he says.

The study described her team's work on Meta's COVID-19 response and Ray-Ban Stories smart spectacles, which included flagging potential privacy hazards and consequences on vulnerable populations, in addition to country-level analyses.

Regarding the country-level assessments, the report described the work done by Meta Human Rights Director Miranda Sissons and her team on the COVID-19 response and Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, which included identifying potential privacy risks and their effects on vulnerable groups. Sissons joined Meta in 2019.

Sissons stated that research into augmented and virtual reality technologies, which Meta emphasized with its wager on the ‘metaverse’, is mostly ongoing this year and would be included in future reports.

"At least show the courage to release the executive summary so we can see what the independent law firm has”, says Asokan.