Social media misuse case: Facebook presented its stand before the parliamentary committee

New Delhi : Facebook India officials on Tuesday presented their stand before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the issue of misuse of social media platforms. The committee had summoned the officials of Facebook and Google. Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is the chairman of this committee. Facebook’s India Director of Public Policy Shivnath Thukral and General Counsel Namrata Singh presented their views before the committee.

The agenda of the Parliamentary Committee meeting was to protect the rights of citizens and prevent misuse of social media/online news media platforms. Earlier Facebook representatives had informed the parliamentary committee that their company policy does not allow their executives to attend meetings with physical presence due to COVID protocols. However, committee chairman Tharoor told Facebook that its officials would have to attend the meeting as the parliamentary secretariat does not allow digital meetings.

The Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology will summon representatives from YouTube and other social media entities in the coming weeks. Before the representatives of Facebook and Google were called, Twitter executives made their point before the committee. In the last meeting, several members of the committee made it clear on Twitter that the law of the land is supreme, not its policies.