Despite deciding the group was in violation of terms and conditions Facebook has chosen not to remove Bajrang Dal and his group "for the safety of its employees."
Earlier the social media company said it considered the group to be a "dangerous organization" - adding its actions and posts violated Facebook policies.
According to sources, Facebook remains hesitant to enforce its own rules following an assessment by its security team. The company was reportedly advised against removing the organization's pages because it might hurt its business in India - and potentially trigger attacks against its employees in the country.
A report from The Journal, which quoted an internal company memo, said Facebook was concerned about infuriating India's ruling Hindu nationalist politicians if it removed the presence of Bajrang Dal on its platform. Critics said the company's actions cast doubt over its commitment to tackle hate speech in India.
"We ban individuals or entities after following a careful, rigorous and multidisciplinary process. We enforce our Dangerous Organizations and Individuals policy globally without regard to a political position or party affiliation," Facebook said in a statement in response to questions regarding why it hadn't removed the group yet from its platform.
In August, Facebook was in a similar situation when it failed to apply its hate speech policies on India politician T. Raja Singh. The India nationalist ruling Bharatiya Janata Party member posted several comments on the platform - threatening to shoot Muslim immigrants and burn mosques.
Facebook's top public policy executive in India reportedly blocked the company's plans to shut down Singh's accounts as it might be detrimental to its operations in the country. India is currently one of the largest and fastest growing online markets. Facebook considers the country as one of its main markets.
Human rights activists and world regulators have criticized Facebook's exempting politicians such as U.S. President Donald Trump from its hate speech and fact-checking policies - while refusing to protect the free speech of other users and groups.
