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House panel to discuss ‘misuse of social media’ with Twitter, IT officials
This is the first time that the panel will meet since the onset of the second Covid wave in March. The last panel meeting was held on March 16
The parliamentary panel on information technology has asked officials from Twitter and the ministry of electronics and information technology to appear before it on June 18 to discuss “prevention of misuse of social media platforms”, with people familiar with the matter saying that the issue of the so-called Congress toolkit may be raised by the panel.
The case pertains to a document that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) says demonstrates a conspiracy by the Congress to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, while the opposition party has said the document is fake. Twitter labelled posts linking to the document as “manipulated media” sparking off a spat with the Union government.
“The issue is topical and relevant to the panel’s overall discussion,” one of these people said. “The panel members may want appropriate explanations. There will also be other wide ranging discussion as the report of the committee shapes up. If there is quorum, the meeting will be held.”
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The schedule and agenda of the meeting has been uploaded on the Lok Sabha website. This is the first time that the panel will meet since the onset of the second Covid wave in March. The last panel meeting was held on March 16.
The topic has been particularly contentious with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey hitting out panel chairperson and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for demanding an explanation from the ministry over its decision to ask Twitter to remove the manipulated media tag from posts made by several BJP leaders.
The controversy began when Twitter tagged a May 18 post by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and other senior BJP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and party’s national social media in-charge Priti Gandhi, as “manipulated media”.
The BJP alleged the toolkit was aimed at building a biased narrative over the Indian government’s handling of the second wave of Covid-19, and the Central Vista Project. Many top BJP leaders, including its chief JP Nadda and Union ministers Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hardeep Puri, Anurag Thakur, Piyush Goyal, amplified Patra’s tweet. The Congress subsequently reached out to Twitter to tag the tweets of the union ministers as well and even registered an FIR in the case.
The action prompted the ministry of electronics and information technology to write to Twitter on May 21, asking it to remove the tag as the matter was under investigation by law enforcement agencies. This was followed by a visit and notice to the social media firm from the Delhi Police special cell, which sought information from Twitter -- although the police force was yet to register a case regarding it.
The microblogging platform, in turn, raised concerns regarding “intimidation tactics by the police” and with the “core elements” of the new social media and intermediary guidelines on May 27. It also flagged concerns regarding its employees in India and the “potential threat to freedom of expression”.
The dispute escalated further when Congress MP and chairperson of the panel Shashi Tharoor wrote to the ministry, asking it to explain why it asked the social media firm to drop the “manipulated media” tag.
A petition has been filed in the Delhi high court against Twitter’s decision to leave the tag up, with the petitioner saying the company must adhere to directions under the new Information Technology Act rules, that compel the company to heed to government directions. The company is yet to fully comply with the rules, which has been challenged in at least 8 petitions filed in several high courts for being unconstitutional on several counts.
The “manipulated media” tag set off a political spat within the panel itself.
BJP MP and panel member Nishikant Dubey accused Tharoor of using the panel to further his “party’s political agenda”. “He (Tharoor) is more concerned about his party’s and Mr Rahul Gandhi’s agenda than the nation itself. Recently, on the Twitter toolkit controversy, he is asking for explanations from the Ministry of Information and Technology when Twitter’s action is against this nation’s IT law,” Dubey said. Dubey wrote to the speaker seeking Tharoor’s removal as chair of the panel.
Tharoor, however, clarified that the panel communicates with the ministry in writing, given that it is unable to meet during the pandemic. “W/reference to allegations circulated publicly recently by a member of the ParliamentaryCommittee on IT relating to the #ManipulatedMedia issue, this is to clarify that, given the Cmt’s inability to meet in current circumstances, it communicates w/Ministries in writing as reqd,” he wrote on Twitter. Tharoor added that the ministry had sent the panel a detailed response on the issue.
