The Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology has issued summons to officials of Facebook and Twitter for January 21, to question them over misuse of the social media/online news platforms.
The schedule of meeting on the Lok Sabha website read: "Evidence of representatives of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and to hear the views of the representatives of Facebook and Twitter on the subject safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space."
Earlier, the committee had summoned Facebook's India head Ajit Mohan over the issue of political bias on the social media platform. Ajit Mohan said at the time that the social media company's fact-checking team has so far found no such element that necessitates a ban on the Bajrang Dal.
The allegations of a Facebook bias towards the BJP were reported in The Wall Street Journal in August 2020 and had claimed that Ankhi Das, the platform's then India Policy Head had opposed the idea of removing hate posts by BJP leaders, warning that this could hamper their "commercial interests".
The report also suggested that Facebook didn’t crack down on Bajrang Dal despite an internal assessment calling for a ban on the Hindu nationalist group due to financial considerations and concerns over the safety of its employees.
Das has now quit Facebook.
Earlier this month, the parliamentary committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill recommended 89 amendments to the proposed legislation, including changing its title and schedule. The draft of the bill, approved by the Cabinet in December 2019, proposes to put restriction on use of personal data without explicit consent of citizens.
Joint Committee of Parliament headed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi had told the media at the time that the process of writing the report on the bill begun.
The bill also proposes a Rs 15 crore penalty and up to three-year jail term for company executives for violating privacy norms.