The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Data Protection Bill requested an affidavit from Twitter Inc, the US-based parent company of the social media platform, asking them to explain why it had shown Ladakh as a party. from China, a key member of the panel. he said Wednesday.
The decision to request an affidavit from the parent company was made after the panel found that explanations offered by representatives of Twitter India, who appeared before the Committee on Wednesday, were “unsatisfactory and inappropriate.”
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Representatives from e-commerce giant Amazon also appeared before the committee on Wednesday, after the parliamentary panel reflected on action against them last week for refusing to do so.
Appearing before the panel headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Meenakshi Lekhi, representatives of Twitter India “apologized” and claimed it was a “mistake” as the geotagging of the app had suffered a technical flaw.
“The Committee was of the unanimous opinion that Twitter’s explanation of showing Ladakh as part of China was inadequate,” Lekhi told PTI after the meeting.
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She said Twitter representatives told the panel that the social media company “respects the sensitivity of India.”
“But it’s not just about the sensitivity of India or Indians. It is a matter of national integrity and sovereignty of the country, and not respecting that is a crime. And displaying the map of India improperly and incorrectly is a crime of treason and carries a penalty of seven years in prison, ”Lekhi said.
The panel that questioned Twitter India executives for more than two hours on the Ladakh issue also asked about its “ban policy”.
“Prohibition in the shade, prohibition policy: there is no clarity about it. Such actions are very subjective … Twitter is becoming a law in its own right and under these circumstances they are violating article 19 of the Constitution on freedom of expression, ”said Ms. Lekhi.
Some members also asked the social media company about its policy regarding fake news, paid news, its transparency policy, and the actions of the social media platform during the elections, especially in relation to its policies in other countries.
“Our teams quickly resolved the recent geotagging problem. We are committed to openness and transparency around our work and will stay in regular contact with the Government to share timely updates, ”a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement.
Twitter faced backlash from social media users after its geotagging feature recently displayed “Jammu & Kashmir, the People’s Republic of China” on a live stream from a war memorial in Leh, Ladakh.
A senior member said The Hindu that Twitter India was seen as a “marketing arm” of the parent company and therefore a written explanation has been requested from Twitter Inc. Some members noted that Singapore-based Twitter Asia is primarily concerned with advertising revenue and makes all the important decisions related to the region.
The Twitter India team that testified before the panel included Shagufta Kamran, Senior Public Policy Manager; Ayushi Kapoor, legal advisor; Pallavi Walia for policy communications and Manvinder Bali, corporate security.
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Electronics, Information and Technology (MeitY) also appeared before the panel.
On October 22, the secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ajay Sawhney, had written to the executive director of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, to respect the country’s sensitivities, and it was known that he made clear that “any lack of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is unacceptable ”.
Separately, the panel also questioned Indian officials from e-commerce giant Amazon and Amazon web services about different aspects of data security, and it was learned that they requested submissions in writing.
Last week, the panel reflected on the action against the e-commerce giant after Amazon expressed its inability to appear before the panel, as the “domain experts” were based in the United States and could not travel during the pandemic. of COVID-19.
Next week, the Committee has convened telecommunications operators Reliance Jio and Airtel, and cabin aggregators Ola and Uber to speak before it on the issue of data security.
(With PTI inputs.)
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