The parliamentary standing committee on information technology is expected to summon Facebook and WhatsApp as part of its discussions over safeguarding citizen rights on social media, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
They are likely to be called in March, as the panel first wants to complete its postponed meeting with Twitter, they said. The panel has asked Twitter’s top global executives to appear before it on February 25, after the microblogging site’s chief executive skipped an earlier meeting called by it.
Summons are yet to be sent to Facebook and WhatsApp, they said. Before that, it intends to focus extensively on Twitter.
Questions to be put to Facebook and WhatsApp would be slightly different from those prepared for Twitter, a senior member of the panel told ET, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“Although the queries to be put will be on similar lines, keeping in view the audiences the two (Facebook and WhatsApp) cater to are different from those of Twitter, and so is their reach, the questions will be tweaked accordingly,” said another member of the panel, also asking not to be named.
Besides issues such as bias and rights of citizens, the panel will underscore the need for data privacy in its likely discussions with Facebook and WhatsApp, the people said.
The panel has prepared a set of questions to be put to Twitter, the second panel member said. “The fundamentals of understanding the company (Twitter) will have to be addressed first … before recommending anything, the panel needs to understand the semantics, that is, whether it is a technology company or a media house, its place of registration and what measures of control can be effected,” he said.
The panel had earlier summoned Twitter on February 11. It, however, refused to meet representatives of Twitter India, while insisting that CEO Jack Dorsey must appear before it within 15 days. The committee later said if Dorsey was unavailable, a senior member of Twitter’s global management team, who is accountable for the company’s actions, must appear before it.
ET reported on February 10 that the panel was exploring ways of expressing its annoyance, including declaring breach of privilege, at being unable to get Dorsey or his second-in-command to attend the hearing. These may include sending a “strong” recommendation to the government, seeking adverse action against the platform.
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