The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on Tuesday summoned Twitter over the new IT rules. The Committee asked the micro-blogging site to appear before it on June 18. Amidst the ongoing tussle between the Central government and the Twitter, the panel has also called officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to present their version.
The IT panel, chaired by Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is seeking the social media firm’s explanation as well as its views on a range of issues.
This will be a continuation of discussions with the social media groups. The panel will discuss the IT regulation rules and some of the recent developments, including the manipulated media controversy, the Twitter’s India officials being questioned by Delhi Police and the intermediary guidelines and their compliance, said a source in Parliament.
According to the agenda finalised, the panel will hear the views of representatives of Twitter followed by evidence of representatives of Ministry of Electronics and IT on the subject safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms, including special emphasis on women security in digital space.
The Indian government laid down new IT rules in February which came into effect on May 26. Under new rules, they directed all major social media platforms operating in the country to appoint compliance officers in India, set up grievance response mechanisms, and take down content within 36 hours of a legal order.
According to the Centre, the new rules are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal. The social media platforms, if they fail to comply with rules, would result in losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them.
In the first week of June, the Centre issued one last notice to Twitter over appointing India-based officers as per the country’s new rules for social media companies, failing which, the government said, it will face consequences as per the IT Act and other penal laws.