Twitter was grilled by MPs across parties on its Organisational Structure, Accountability

Twitter was grilled by MPs across parties on Friday and told bluntly that "Indian laws are supreme and the company has to abide by the laws of India in India," Members of the committee, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor

The discussion in the committee came in the wake of Twitter delaying appointing officials to address grievances under new rules issued by the government and a row over its decision to flag certain BJP handles as "manipulated media" for tweeting about Congress's alleged "toolkit" to defame the government.

The committee asked the officials whether their company rules were more important or the laws of India. They reportedly had a "vague response" that Twitter rules were "equally important" for them - a reply that was not viewed positively by the MPs.

BJP's Nishikant Dubey asked Twitter Officials that why they failed to tag "manipulated media" in the recent video of a Ghaziabad man alleging assault, despite being clarified from UP Police that the victim had made false claims.

It was pointed out that the alacrity with which Twitter tagged BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya’s tweets as “manipulated media” suggested that the platform was playing the role of an “editor, not an intermediary”.

Other MPs who were participated in the discussion are Trinamool’s Mohua Moitra and BJP's Rajyavardhan Rathore. Twitter’s “vague” responses led members to allege disrespect to the House panel.

Asked specifically whether it respected Indian laws, Twitter India’s public policy manager Shagufta Kamran and legal counsel Ayushi Kapoor said they respected Indian laws and Twitter policies equally. In a statement after the discussion,

Twitter spokesperson said,

“We appreciate the opportunity to share our views before the standing committee on information technology. Twitter stands prepared to work with the committee on the important work of safeguarding citizens’ rights online in line with our principles of transparency, freedom of expression and privacy. We will also continue working alongside the Indian government as part of our shared commitment to serve and protect the public conversation.”

The explanation offered by Twitter India officials, sources said, attributing delays in appointing officials to the coronavirus pandemic, failed to impress MPs as there was no timeline indicated as to when the company would comply with the recently notified Digital Media Rules, 2021.

With no clear responses forthcoming, the House panel asked Twitter representatives to submit written responses in 15 days on compliance and on what sort of authority the India chapter wielded.

The query reflects concerns that Twitter India often claims that important decisions are taken in the US and that technical matters also reside in servers located in America.

“When tweets were labelled as manipulated media before investigating agencies completed their investigation, Twitter passed a judgment and acted as an editor. If the platform claims to be an intermediary, it cannot do this,” a member told the panel.

The government says Twitter is the only major social media site that has yet to comply with new digital rules in force since May 26. Earlier this week, Twitter said it had appointed an interim Chief Compliance Officer and would later share updates with the government.