Rule of land supreme: House panel to Twitter

NEW DELHI: The members of a parliamentary panel on Friday strongly objected to Twitter India officials' observations that they abide by their policy, and the members made them known that the rule of land is supreme.

According to sources, the members of the Parliamentary Panel on Information Technology also asked Twitter as to why it should not be fined as it has been found "violating" rules of the country.

Earlier this month, the Centre did issue a notice to Twitter giving it the last chance to "immediately" comply with the new IT rules and warned that failure to adhere to the norms will lead to the platform losing exemption from liability under the IT Act.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, had summoned Twitter over issues related to misuse of the platform and protection of citizens' rights.

Twitter India's public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor deposed before the panel on Friday.

Members of the panel asked some tough and searching questions to Twitter India officials but their answers lacked clarity, besides being ambiguous, sources said.

They strongly objected to the observation of Twitter India officials that its policy is on par with the rule of land and categorically told them "rule of land is supreme, not your policy", sources said.

Earlier, Delhi Police had sent a notice to Twitter, seeking an explanation of how it described an alleged "Congress toolkit" against the Central government as manipulated media.

The police reportedly had also questioned Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari on May 31 and visited the Twitter India offices in Delhi and Gurgaon on May 24 over the toolkit issue. (Agencies)

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