New Delhi: Social media platforms such as Facebook came under pressure from MPs on Friday when the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) analyzing the personal data protection bill asked company representatives about data portability, income for advertising generated in India and corporate tax paid them in India.
JPC members also warned e-commerce giant Amazon, which conveyed in a letter to the committee that most of its experts were abroad and that it was difficult for them to travel at this time. There is a growing feeling among JPC MPs that strict action must be taken against Amazon for failing to appear before the parliamentary committee.
“The JPC was unanimous and all members were upset that Amazon decided not to appear before the parliamentary committee. There is an opinion that the union government should intervene and strict measures should be taken against Amazon. There are a number of steps that can be taken, some of the members have also suggested moving a motion of privilege against Amazon. But what is the guarantee that Amazon representatives appear before the privilege committee. If they can skip a meeting called JPC, what is the guarantee that they will appear before any other parliamentary committee, ”said a person familiar with the development.
The JPC members also said that strict action should be taken against Amazon because if a company had refused before the parliamentary commission and it was possible that in the future more companies and individuals could also simply skip meetings or refuse to appear before a commission. parliamentary. Confirming the move, JPC Chairman Meenakshi Lekhi told the Press Trust of India that “the panel is unanimous in their opinion that coercive action against the e-commerce company can be suggested to the government.”
During discussion with Facebook representatives on Friday, JPC members asked the representatives about the amount of advertising revenue the company generates in India. “To the question of the advertising revenue generated by Facebook in India, the representatives of the company have no answer. The JPC members were not satisfied or happy with the responses from the company representatives and have been asked to provide a written response. The JPC had asked them to send all the responses in one week, but they asked for two weeks, “said a person who knew the development.
JPC members also raised questions about data protection and data portability with Facebook representatives. MPs said that while there were millions of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users in India, users’ personal data was stored outside the country.
“This is a security issue and it is important for security reasons. The question of cross-border data storage is important because if tomorrow the state wants to recover the data, how will it be possible? We also ask who the data repository is. If tomorrow a court wants some data, how can we get it? What will happen in such a scenario? “Said a person who knows the development.
The parliamentary committee was also interested in learning about the corporation tax paid by Facebook in the country, but the representatives could not answer the questions in a satisfactory way. The meeting on Friday was attended by Facebook’s director of policy, Ankhi Das.
“We deeply appreciate the opportunity to discuss data regulation issues with the honorable members of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill. We believe that India’s data protection law has the potential to boost the digital economy of the world. country and global digital commerce, and we wholeheartedly support this effort, “said a spokesperson for the Facebook company in a statement. “That is why we deeply appreciate being a part of this discussion and we will continue to work together with governments and regulators to find the right solutions that not only protect user privacy, but are also interoperable with other important global privacy regulations.” the statement added.
According to people familiar with the developments, two rounds of JPC meetings could be convened next week with representatives of social media platforms, including Twitter, which declined to officially comment on the matter. “They are continuous meetings and all aspects are related to the Personal Data Protection Law Project. Two rounds of meetings could take place next week, including some of the global online giants and local online portals, “added another person aware of the developments.
The JPC, less than a year old, has held 14 sessions so far to deliberate on the bill. He has received representation from key ministry stakeholders such as electronics and information technology, law and justice, home affairs, among others, along with representatives from think tanks and trade bodies.
Saumya Tewari and Prasid Banerjee contributed to the story.
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