In a fresh development regarding the controversy around the micro-blogging website Twitter, Vice President of Public Policy of Twitter, Colin Crowell, appeared before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology today. However, many of the concerns of the panel were left unanswered and afterwards, the micro-blogging platform was given 10 days to reply in writing to all those questions. According to media reports, the micro-blogging website may be called again before the parliamentary committee with regard to the question of bias against Right Wing (RW) handles.
Parliamentary panel on IT has told Twitter to ensure that Indian Elections are not undermined and influenced by foreign entities. More details by #AtharKhan pic.twitter.com/LoV9RwrJVk
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) February 25, 2019
The committee headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur warned Twitter to keep a check on those shady elements who may try to affect the Lok Sabha election of 2019. Thakur further asserted that the micro-blogging site should work in close connection with the Election Commission (EC) of India to resolve any conflict in real time.
Earlier, in what can only be considered a gross insult towards India, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, refused to appear before the Indian parliamentary panel on February 11, on which, Thakur said, “We had summoned the global CEO, he did not appear but sent junior executives.” Initially, the CEO and other top officials refused outright to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on IT. Twitter’s attitude reeked of absolute arrogance and disrespect towards India. However, Twitter did try covering it up and sent the Twitter India Director of Policy, Mahima Kaul to represent the social networking website.
What is particularly disturbing is the fact that the team leader of Twitter India that was sent by the social media platform to the parliamentary panel is six months pregnant and was on maternity leave. It is utterly shameful that the Twitter CEO, Jock Dorsey got her to represent Twitter before the panel.
In today’s meeting as well, the parliamentary panel sought out for Jack Dorsey, however, he wrote an apology letter for his absence and afterwards, Colin Crowell was allowed to represent Twitter this time. The panel also propounded that those nefarious groups who are against India and terrorists groups which use the platform must be reigned in from doing so.
Chairman Parliamentary Sh @ianuragthakur
IT Commitee got a personal letter from Jack Dorsey Twitter CEO.— Tajinder Bagga (Modi Ka Parivar) (@TajinderBagga) February 25, 2019
Moreover, it is an ‘open secret’ that the social media giant is biased on RW ideology. Public Policy and Governance Head, Twitter India has been very vocal in her support for Rahul Gandhi. In fact, several of her tweets reveal her alleged anti-Modi and pro-Rahul Gandhi bias. This indeed is a major concern in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It doesn’t augur well for the world’s largest democracy if the social media giant manipulates itself in support of a particular political ideology. The parliamentary committee, therefore, deserves to be applauded for this bold step.
However, with the stern reply of the committee, it is clear that the NDA government this time is no pushover. It is no surprise that the data colonization is a growing menace, and social media websites have been quite instrumental in giving it an undue edge in the field of information technology. To make matters worse, the intense bias that people calling the shots in the organization have, is not only harmful to their own sites, but also the entire digital world. In such a circumstance, the bold attitude of the Indian parliamentary committee in just the right degree was much needed.
