This meeting comes 10 days after Twitter’s officials appeared before the panel regarding the new IT rules where the panel unequivocally asked the social media company to follow the law of the land.
A parliamentary panel on IT headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has summoned Google and Facebook officers tomorrow to discuss the issue of safeguarding citizens’ rights and preventing the misuse of online platforms.
The official agenda circulated among the members of the panel, which is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, said, “To hear the views of representatives of Facebook India and Google India 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.” NDTV reported
Flash: Representatives of Facebook India & Google India to be called by Parliamentary panel on IT on misuse of social/online news media platforms tomm at 4 pm pic.twitter.com/kSTUObNtgP
— Sidhant Sibal (@sidhant) June 28, 2021
This meeting comes 10 days after Twitter’s officials appeared before the panel regarding the new IT rules where the panel unequivocally asked the social media company to follow the law of the land.
Twitter has already lost legal protection in India when the government stripped it of its intermediary status for its non-compliance with the IT Rules. This means that Twitter will not be considered as a platform hosting people’s tweets but it will be editorially responsible for the content.
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Earlier, representatives of Facebook had informed the Parliamentary committee that their company’s policies do not allow officials to appear in person due to the Covid-19 protocols. But the panel’s chairman Mr Tharoor told Facebook that its officials will have to appear in person since the Parliament Secretariat does not allow virtual meetings.
The committee would also summon representatives from YouTube and other social media platforms in the coming days to hold discussions on the same issues.
The Centre notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 on February 25, 2021. The Rules have come into effect from May 26, 2021.
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