The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has summoned Twitter representatives to appear before it on June 18. The panel has also sent for officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on the same date.
The parliamentary panel is chaired by Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. The panel will seek an explanation from Twitter officials on a range of issues as well as seek inputs on those issues.
According to the agenda on record, the panel will "hear the views of representatives of Twitter followed by evidence of representatives of Ministry of Electronics and IT on the subject of safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms, including special emphasis on women’s security in the digital space."
"This will be a continuation of discussions with the social media groups. The panel will discuss the IT rules and some of the recent developments, including the manipulated media controversy, the matter of Twitter’s India officials being questioned by Delhi Police and the intermediary guidelines and their compliance," said a source in Parliament.
The ongoing tussle between Twitter and the Centre began after the micro-blogging social media platform was asked to ban accounts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and those supporting the farmers’ protest. While Twitter had complied, it later restored numerous accounts.
The battle intensified when the Centre issued new rules regarding social media platforms after Twitter labelled certain senior BJP leaders’ tweets as manipulated media in the ‘toolkit’ controversy. Teams of Delhi Police raided Twitter’s India office located in Delhi.
The government has maintained that the new rules are to protect social media users and to prevent widespread sharing of dangerous material like pornography, drug abuse, weapons and other contraband.
The new IT rules, which were announced on February 25 by MeitY, came into effect on May 26. Every social media intermediary, including Twitter, was given three months to comply with them.
Twitter has not complied with the rules that stipulate the appointment of a resident grievance officer. The platform said it was committed to India as a vital market, but
criticised the new IT rules and regulations that it said “inhibit free, open public conversation.”
Under the new digital rules, social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to identify within 36 hours the originator of a flagged message as well as to conduct additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.
On June 5, the Centre warned Twitter of legal consequences if it failed to comply. Twitter then informed the government that
it was finalising the appointment of the chief compliance officer and said it would provide additional details with respect to the new IT rules.
