During the 90 minute meeting, the panel asked the company, if it follows the law or the land, to which a representative responded saying, “We follow our own policies,” news agency ANI reported.
Indian representatives of microblogging platform Twitter appeared before the parliamentary panel chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to discuss the issue of its guidelines and the misuse of its platform. During the deposition, Twitter India’s public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor represented Twitter.
During the 90 minute meeting, the panel asked the company, if it follows the law or the land, to which a representative responded saying, “We follow our own policies,” news agency ANI reported.
At the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information & Technology, in response to the question — if Twitter India follows the law or the land, a Twitter representative said, "We follow our own policies": Sources
— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2021
The panel then told Twitter that the law of the land is “supreme” and asked the company to abide by them. They also asked Twitter to explain why it should not be fined for ‘violating’ the rule of the land.
The meeting comes as the Centre is at loggerheads with the microblogging site over the new Information and Technology (IT) rules.
The panel has sought a written reply from Twitter on various questions. The committee is also expected to summon Twitter officials again, having indicated that discussions would continue, reported The Indian Express
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At the hearing, Twitter reiterated its stand on the ‘manipulated media’ tag, saying this was not a subjective call but entirely the function of an algorithm. Recently, the tag had appeared on accounts of some BJP leaders and others that accused the Congress of a “toolkit” over Covid protests against the Modi government.
In a statement after the hearing, a Twitter spokesperson said they welcomed the chance to appear before the panel and said the company “stands prepared to work with the Committee on the important work of safeguarding citizens’ rights online in line with our principles of transparency, freedom of expression, and privacy”. It said it will also “continue working alongside the Indian Government as part of our shared commitment to serve and protect the public conversation”.
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