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Parl panel discusses issues with tech firms in Mumbai
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology (IT) on Monday met senior officials from all major social media platforms and discussed monopolistic practices, content and ad moderation, election misinformation, promotion algorithms and parental control, among others
New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology (IT) on Monday met senior officials from all major social media platforms and discussed monopolistic practices, content and ad moderation, election misinformation, promotion algorithms and parental control, among others, people aware of the matter said.
The panel, which is currently on a study tour that ends Tuesday, “amicably discussed” multiple issues with senior policy officials from Google, Facebook, Twitter, Snap, Koo, ShareChat and Dailyhunt in Mumbai, the people added.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology is tasked with examining issues related to social media, safeguarding citizens online, and monopolistic practices by social and digital platforms, among other things.
One person, who has participated in these meetings for years, told HT on condition of anonymity, that the companies and the IT ministry appear to have “become comfortable with each other” after years of unease. A second person HT spoke to, echoed that assessment.
Senior officials from the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), including Dr Sandip Chatterjee, group coordinator for cyber laws divisions, and Rajinder Punia, a director at Competition Commission of India (CCI), also participated in the meeting. Panel members who were present included chairperson Prataprao Jadhav (Shiv Sena), Karti Chidambaram (Congress), Jaggesh (BJP) and Kartikeya Sharma (Independent).
The three-hour meeting began with a presentation by Punia on monopolistic practices of digital platforms. When asked to identify dominant player, Punia cited Google’s majority share in the mobile OS market through Android. Google’s representatives, which included public policy head Sreenivasa Reddy, were also asked about the market dominance of Google Search, how search results are prioritised, and whether start-ups were treated fairly on its Play Store.
Google has challenged the ₹1,337 crore penalty that CCI has imposed on it for abusing its dominant position as the maker of Android. The Supreme Court will hear the matter in January 2024.
Members then asked officials from Meta/Facebook about how their algorithms prioritise content. Shivnath Thukral, Meta’s public policy head said that if users pay for boosted posts or stories on Instagram, they are ranked higher but are identified as ads. Thukral was also asked about US news reports that said Facebook did not take down hateful and violent content despite it being reported to the platform. He reiterated Facebook’s stance and said that decisions in such a large company are not taken unilaterally and thus take time.
Instagram and Koo were asked about displaying betting ads which are forbidden under law. Koo replied that their platform does not allow such ads, but there is no ban on such companies having user accounts and posting on the platform.
Twitter’s chief compliance officer, Vinay Prakash, was asked what the platform was doing to ensure that it remained fair and unbiased during the upcoming general elections. Prakash did not get a chance to respond, the people cited above said.
Members of the panel also asked Chatterjee what steps were being taken to combat disinformation during the election season, and what was being done to tackle unlawful content. Chatterjee and his colleagues from MeitY explained that the IT Rules, 2021, already address these concerns.
