Facebook & Google make deposition before Parliamentary Panel; told to follow new IT laws

Responding to the summons issued by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, social media giants Facebook and Google made their depositions before the Shashi Tharoor-led panel on Tuesday. Facebook and Google officials had been summoned on the issue of misuse of social media platforms and safeguarding citizens' rights. Earlier, Twitter had also been summoned and was questioned over its non-compliance with the new IT laws in India. Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has directed Facebook and Google to comply with new IT rules and follow rules of the country

Facebook India's public policy director Shivnath Thukral and general counsel Namrata Singh deposed before the panel on Tuesday. The agenda of the parliamentary panel meeting was to safeguard citizens' rights and prevent the misuse of social/online news media platforms. Earlier Facebook representatives had informed the parliamentary panel that their company policy does not allow their officials to attend in-person meetings because of their COVID-related protocol.

However, panel head Shashi Tharoor had turned down the request as the parliament secretariat does not allow any virtual meetings. The Parliamentary Committee on IT will also summon representatives of YouTube and other Social Media Intermediaries in the coming weeks over the issue. 

Twitter makes deposition 

Making its deposition before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information & Technology on June 18, San Fransisco-based microblogging site Twitter, refused to follow India's laws regarding the operation of social media platforms. In response to a question of whether the social media giant follows the laws of the land in India, a Twitter representative stated that it follows 'its own policies,' thereby blatantly shunning India's rules and regulations.

Twitter was then asked why it should not be fined for violating the rule of the land, with members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee telling Twitter officials that the law of the land was supreme and not its own policies.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has asked Twitter India to submit in writing about how it is placed in the global branch and how much executive authority does it have in terms of making important policy decisions. Responding to Twitter's answer, the Parliamentary Panel asserted that rule of the land is 'supreme' and not the social media firm's policy.

“We appreciate the opportunity to share our views before Standing Committee on IT. Twitter stands prepared to work with the Committee on important work of safeguarding citizens' rights online in line with our principles of transparency, freedom of expression, & privacy," a Twitter spokesperson had said in a statement.