Twitter representatives on Friday appeared before a parliamentary panel that had called the social media giant to discuss the issue of safeguarding citizens’ rights and preventing misuse of online platforms.
The parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, heard their views on the subject.
Top officials of Twitter are being called at a time when the government has clashed with the American social media giant over a range of issues including its stand on the new IT rules.
“We appreciate 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, and privacy,” Twitter spokesperson said after the meeting, as per ANI report.
Government vs Twitter
The government has locked horns with Twitter ever since the social media giant labelled tweets by BJP politicians as ‘manipulated media’.
The Uttar Pradesh police department also filed an FIR against Twitter for its alleged inaction against tweets about the assault of an elderly Muslim man in Ghaziabad district on June 5. Twitter, along with several journalists and Congress leaders, were accused of provoking communal sentiments in the FIR.
News reports said talks about the Centre’s decision to ask Twitter to comply with amended IT rules would also take place at the Friday meeting. The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, listed out ethics and suggested a method to manage inappropriate content on social media and digital news platforms.
Under the new rules, social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook would have to reveal the origin of any post a court or government authority wishes to examine. Criticising the new regulations, Twitter had termed it a ‘potential threat’ to freedom of expression in India. On June 5, the Centre had sent a final notice to Twitter to comply with the new rules.
