Twitter, Facebook asked to explain ‘misuse of platform’ before Parliament's IT panel

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) has summoned representatives of social media companies Twitter and Facebook on January 21 to discuss "misuse of their platforms".

The move comes amid data concerns after Facebook-owned WhatsApp notified users it would update its data sharing policy (which it has now delayed due to intense backlash) and Twitter blocked accounts.

The panel is seeking response from the companies on the issue of “safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space”, The Economic Times reported.

The emphasis would be women's security, besides misuse of the platform, the report said.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The committee is headed by Congress leader and Minister of Parliament Shashi Tharoor.

Earlier in January, WhatsApp informed users it would impose an update in it's privacy policy to allow sharing of data with parent Facebook by month-end. The move however triggered mass backlash with many shifting to other messaging apps that promise privacy such as Telegram and Signal.

After the response and following notices from multiple governments, WhatsApp clarified its policy change and has pushed back the same.

Twitter meanwhile has invited scrutiny for political reasons as the Indian right wing and BJP raised alarm over the ban of twitter accounts of US President Donald Trump, after the attack on Capitol.

Prior to this line of questioning, the panel heard Facebook reps on the company's functioning in India, including reasons for why "inflammatory content by some Hindu right-wing groups during riots and elections" were not removed, it added.

Besides the IT panel, the Parliament Joint Committee on Data Protection has also sought data on Facebook's revenue model, data storage of Indian users in the US, and whether the platform terms itself as "a publisher or only an intermediary."

Both panels said responses from the companies have so far been unsatisfactory, it added.