On Friday, March 24, the educational technology behemoth BYJUs drew flak on social media for again sharing a distorted map of India which showed Jammu and Kashmir as a separate country and parts of Ladakh as China on the map. The map is allegedly part of the study material issued by BYJUs to its students.
The issue came to the fore after a Twitter user named Bala shared the image of the incorrect map of India, which is a part of BYJUs study material, and tagged the organization in his tweet. “First you defame Sardar Patel, then you promote pro-China and pro-Pakistan propaganda. Now it shows Kashmir as a separate country and some parts of Ladakh with China,” wrote BALA.
First you malign Sardar Patel, then you promote pro-China and pro-Pakistan propaganda showing Kashmir as a separate country with parts of Ladakh with China.
— BALA (@erbmjha) March 24, 2023
When will your propaganda end, @BYJUS? pic.twitter.com/gxMK8dBUTq
The widespread backlash on social media prompted Byjus to respond to the tweet. The company issued a statement denying any involvement in the creation of the distorted map of India that was uploaded on Twitter.
We would like to clarify through our official statement below. pic.twitter.com/mpMZ6WWVpZ
— BYJU’S (@BYJUS) March 24, 2023
It further clarified that the video was based on user-generated content, which was uploaded by a young Osmo student. Osmo, a BYJUs subsidiary, is a platform and technology provider that allows users to upload their content. The map has subsequently been removed and is no longer accessible, said Edtech company.
“At BYJU’S and Osmo, we hold the highest respect for the integrity and sovereignty of India. We do not endorse or promote any content that violates our policies or goes against our values. We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of editorial integrity and user-generated content moderation on our platforms,” the statement read.
Notably, the Edtech company faced a similar backlash in October last year. The company had then also issued a statement saying the map has been ‘wrongly attributed’ to the company and it will approach the authorities for further investigation and action.
The map, which was then attributed to BYJUs, showed a few parts of Kashmir as “Azad Kashmir” and “Aksai Chin.”
Child rights body NCPCR summons BYJU’s CEO Byju Raveendran over allegations of malpractice
In December 2022, the apex child rights body National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Friday summoned the educational technology behemoth BYJU’S CEO Byju Raveendran over allegations that it is indulging in malpractices to lure parents and children to buy their courses. Raveendra has been asked to appear before the NCPCR on December 23.
The Commission urged asked the CEO to appear in person before it with information about all of the courses that BYJU’s offers to children, including information about their course structure, fees, the number of students who are currently enrolled in each course and details of its refund policy.
