Parliamentary Panel Summons Twitter on June 18, Controversy Over New IT Rules Key Focus

The House panel has also asked officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to be present to narrate their stand on the issue.

Edited By: Sharmita Kar

Published: June 15, 2021, 10:38 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/news/india/new-it-rules-twitter-controversy-explained-shashi-tharoor-panel-summons-twitter-on-june-18-4741298/ Copy

Twitter Has Failed to Comply With Intermediary Guidelines: RS Prasad

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tussle between Centre and Twitter over the new IT rules, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has summoned representatives of the popular micro-blogging platform on June 18 to explain the reason behind the ongoing controversy. The House panel has also asked officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to be present to narrate their stand on the issue.

“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,” a Parliament source said, quoted by The Indian Express.

The panel, chaired by Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, will hear the explanation by Twitter followed by evidence from representatives of the IT Ministry “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”.

Last week, Twitter said that it was making every effort to comply with the new guidelines under IT Rules 2021.

Tensions grew between Twitter and the central government after the social media site criticised the new IT rules and regulations, saying they “inhibit free, open public conversation”. The Centre responded that the social media platform was levelling baseless and false allegations to defame India and dictating terms to the world’s largest democracy.

Subsequently, the government gave Twitter a final notice to comply with all the norms under the IT Rules 2021.

The Centre has asked all social media platforms with more than 50 lakh (five million) users to follow its orders and appoint a resident grievance officer to deal with complaints on the various platforms.