The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology has summoned Facebook India and Google India to appear before it on June 29. The committee is set to hear the views of the companies about safeguarding the rights of the citizens and prevention of misuse of social or online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space, reports said. This comes days after representatives of Twitter appeared before the panel to discuss India’s new IT rules and how to stop the misuse of the platform.
Earlier on June 18, the Committee had called Twitter to appear before the panel to give representation on how to prevent misuse of social media and online news. Twitter had told the committee that it "stands prepared" to work with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT on safeguarding citizens' rights online, even as the panel categorically told the microblogging platform that rule of the land is supreme and not the company's policies. Twitter India's public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor deposed before the Parliamentary panel, amid an ongoing tussle between the Union government and the company over the new IT rules.
Twitter and the government have been at loggerheads over multiple instances in the past months, including during the farmers' protest and later when the microblogging platform tagged political posts of several leaders of the ruling party BJP as "manipulated media", triggering a sharp rebuke from the Union government.
Twitter has allegedly not fully complied with the new rules, called Intermediary Guidelines, that mandate setting up grievance redressal mechanisms and appointing officers to coordinate with law enforcement. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT, chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, had summoned Twitter officials over issues related to misuse of the platform and protection of citizens' rights.
Three days ago, Twitter briefly blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from accessing his account for alleged copyrights violation and the chairman of the parliamentary panel on information technology Shashi Tharoor has said the standing committee will be seeking an explanation from the social media firm over the temporary locking of their accounts and the rules it follows while operating in India. Two days after this happened, Twitter’s recently-appointed grievance officer, Dharmendra Chatur, quit his post.