The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would certainly wish to hear from Facebook about the reports, Tharoor had said.
There have been a lot of allegations against each other amid members of Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information and Technology (I & T) after its chairman Shashi Tharoor summoned Facebook to explain its stand on the issues raised in Wall Street Journal report. A BJP MP and member of the committee urged all NDA MPs in the Committee to write a letter to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla against Shashi Tharoor. He claimed that Tharoor took the decision without taking members in confidence, sources said.
The controversy started after Rahul Gandhi shared the report alleging that BJP and RSS control Facebook and Whatsapp in India.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would certainly wish to hear from Facebook about the reports, Tharoor had said.
“The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology would certainly wish to hear from Facebook about these reports & what they propose to do about hate-speech in India,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram tweeted.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, earlier on Monday, had said that the Chairman of Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its member.
“The Chairman of Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its member. Shashi Tharoor stop Rahul Gandhi agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker Om Birla,” the BJP leader had tweeted.
Tharoor, responding to Dubey’s comments, said he has brought the Committee’s work into disrepute.
“You are absolutely right, Mahua Moitra, & by imputing motives to my decision, Nishikant Dubey has brought the Committee’s work into disrepute, a matter I will take up. Extraordinary that an MP would suggest that a matter of such great public interest should NOT be taken up by us!” Tharoor said.
It is prerogative of the Chairman when to schedule each item and who to call, TMC MP Mahua Moitra said in support of Tharoor.
“Am IT comm member – agenda item was already agreed & bulletinized with Speaker’s approval at the beginning of the year. When to schedule each item & who to call is Chairman’s prerogative Amazing how BJP jumps up & down at anything to do with FB’s interests!” the MP from West Bengal tweeted.
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