News Analysis India

Tag: Facebook India

  • Facebook executives expected to depose before parliamentary panel on Monday

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Top executives of Facebook India are expected to depose before a parliamentary panel chaired by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday.

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology is scheduled to meet on Monday to hear the views of the representatives of Facebook India on the subject of safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms, according to a notice issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

    The meeting will also deliberate on the security of women in the digital space, especially on social media.

    Top officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will also depose before the panel on the same issue, according to the notice.

    The panel has held several meetings on the subject and had summoned top executives of various social media platforms.

  • Facebook India seeks 14-day time from Delhi Assembly to appear before it

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Facebook India has sought 14 days time from Delhi Legislative Assembly’s committee on ‘Peace & Harmony’ to appear before them and furnish statement.

    In an email sent to the Committee, Facebook India said that it is selecting an appropriate officer for it.

    The Committee had asked Facebook India to appear before them on November 18.

    Earlier, the Committee had decided to call upon Facebook India to send an appropriate senior representative to depose on November 2 on “role of social media in curbing the spread of false and malicious messages which can fan disharmony and affect peace”.

    The committee is chaired by Raghav Chadha.

    The Delhi Assembly had summoned Facebook India Director Ajit Mohan to appear before the committee in February this year, against which Facebook India had filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

    In July this year, the top court had recognised that the privileges and power of the Delhi Legislative Assembly’s Committee are at par with Parliamentary privileges and those of other Legislative Assemblies.

    In the letter, Deputy Secretary (Committee) Sadanand Sah said, “Delhi had witnessed unprecedented communal disharmony and violence in February 2020. The Assembly has constituted a Committee on peace and harmony to recommend suitable measures to defuse the situation and restore harmony among religious communities, linguistic communities or social groups.”

    The letter further stated, “Since Facebook has lakhs of users in Delhi, the Committee has decided to hear the views of representative(s) of Facebook India on the above subject at their sitting scheduled to be held on 2nd of November, 2021 from 12.30 pm in MLA Lounge.”

    The Committee requested Facebook “to send a competent senior representative(s) and the names/ designations of representative(s) can be intimated through email before October 31 at 4 pm or before.”

    Failure to send the representative could lead to the initiation of proceedings for breach of privilege or contempt of the Assembly, said the letter.

  • Facebook India appoints former IAS officer Rajiv Aggarwal as Head of Public Policy

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Facebook India on Monday said it has appointed ex-IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal as the Director of Public Policy.

    He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year.

    She was embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders in the country.

    Aggarwal, in this role, will define and lead important policy development initiatives for Facebook in India on an agenda that covers user safety, data protection and privacy, inclusion and internet governance, a statement said.

    In this role, Aggarwal will report to Ajit Mohan, Vice President and Managing Director of Facebook India, and will be a part of the India leadership team, it added.

    His last assignment was with Uber, where he was the Head of Public Policy for India and South Asia, the statement said.

    Aggarwal comes with 26 years of experience as an Indian Administrative Officer (IAS), and has worked as a District Magistrate in nine districts across the state of Uttar Pradesh.

    During his tenure as an administrative officer, he steered India’s first ever-national policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as Joint Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (M/o Commerce), and was instrumental in the digital transformation of India’s IP offices, the statement said.

    He has been closely associated with the India-US bilateral trade forum, besides being India’s lead negotiator on IPRs with other nations, it added.

    On the appointment, Ajit Mohan said Facebook is an ally for the exciting economic and social transformation that India is witnessing, with digital playing a central role.

    “We realise we are deeply immersed in the fabric of India and we have the opportunity to help build a more inclusive and safe internet that benefits everyone in the country.

    I’m thrilled that Rajiv is joining us to lead the Public Policy team.

    “With his expertise and experience, Rajiv will help further our mission to build transparency, accountability, empowered and safe communities, all of which we recognize as our responsibility,” he added.

    Aggarwal’s appointment comes after a series of senior and leadership recruitments in recent months across marketing, partnerships, communications, and other key verticals demonstrating the company’s expanding charter and commitment to India.

  • SC verdict on Thursday on plea against summons issued by Delhi Assembly panel to Facebook India VP

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Thursday on a plea filed by Facebook India Vice President and MD Ajit Mohan and others challenging the summons issued by Delhi Assembly’s Peace and Harmony committee for failing to appear before it as witness in connection with the north-east Delhi riots matter.

    A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy had on February 24 reserved its verdict on the plea.

    During the arguments before the apex court, Mohan’s counsel had argued that ‘right to silence’ is a virtue in present ‘noisy times’ and the assembly has no legislative power to set up a panel to examine the issue of peace and harmony.

    Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Facebook official, had said that setting up of the peace panel was not the core function of Delhi assembly as the law and order issue fell under the domain of the Centre in the national capital.

    Senior advocate A M Singhvi, representing the panel of the assembly, had said that the assembly has the power to summon.

    However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had opposed the submission of the panel of the assembly saying that law and order squarely fell under the domain of the Delhi Police which is accountable to the Central government.

    Earlier in December last year, the Peace and Harmony committee had moved the top court seeking to intervene in the plea filed by Mohan and others.

    On October 15 last year, the Centre had told the top court that proceedings of the Peace and Harmony committee is ‘without jurisdiction’ as the issue pertained to law and order.

    The apex court had said that its September 23 order asking the assembly’s panel not to take any coercive action against Mohan, would continue till further orders.

    The plea filed by Mohan, Facebook India Online Services Pvt Ltd and Facebook Inc has contended that the committee lacks power to summon or hold petitioners in breach of its privileges for failing to appear and it was exceeding its constitutional limits.

    They have challenged the September 10 and 18 last year notices issued by the committee that sought Mohan’s presence before the panel which is probing the Delhi riots in February and Facebook’s role in spread of alleged hate speeches.

    The Delhi Assembly had said that no coercive action has been taken against Mohan and he was only summoned by its committee to appear as witness in connection with north-east Delhi riots.

    In an affidavit filed in the top court, the Delhi Assembly had said that Mohan has not been issued any summons for breach of privilege.

  • Social media misuse: Facebook, Google representatives depose before parliamentary committee

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Facebook and Google representatives Tuesday deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology over the issue of social media misuse and safeguarding citizens’ rights, with sources saying they were told to comply with the new IT rules, government instructions and court orders.

    The panel, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, had asked them to appear in-person at the parliament secretariat here.

    The sources also said the representatives were conveyed that there are loopholes in their existing data protection and privacy policy mechanism, and that they need to put in place stringent safeguards to protect data privacy and data security of their users.

    While Facebook’s country public policy director Shivnath Thukral and general counsel Namrata Singh appeared before the panel on behalf of the company, search engine Google was represented by its country head (government affairs and public policy) Aman Jain and director (legal) Gitanjali Duggal.

    The agenda of the parliamentary panel meeting was to safeguard citizens’ rights and prevent the misuse of social/online news media platforms.

    The sources said that Tharoor expressed concern about the privacy of women users of social media platforms.

    He said he has also received complaints from several women MPs in this regard.

    Later, Google said in a statement that it has consistently invested in product changes, resources and personnel as part of its efforts to keep users safe in compliance with the local laws in India.

    “We always welcome opportunities to engage in dialogue with the policy makers and share details of our efforts in combating illegal content and ensuring the safety of users across our platforms,” a Google spokesperson said.

    The spokesperson further stated: “We have consistently invested in significant product changes, resources and personnel, and have made significant progress in balancing the openness of our platforms with the responsibility of keeping the community safe in compliance with the local laws in the country.”

    Comments from Facebook were not immediately available.

    Tharoor also expressed displeasure over some members of panel being quoted in the media to report about the proceedings, with sources saying the MPs present in the meeting agreed the confidentiality clause should be adhered to.

    Earlier, Facebook representatives had informed the parliamentary panel that their company policy does not allow their officials to attend in-person meetings because of their Covid-related protocol.

    But Tharoor conveyed to Facebook that its officials will have to appear in-person since the parliament secretariat does not allow any virtual meetings.

    Facebook and Google representatives were called days after Twitter officials deposed before the panel.

    In the last meeting, several members of the panel had categorically told Twitter that the rule of land is supreme not the social media platform’s policies.

    Also on Tuesday, the parliamentary panel asked Twitter to explain with 48 hours why it had blocked access of Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Tharoor to their accounts, the sources said.

    Last week, Twitter had blocked Union Information and Technology Minister Prasad from accessing his account which ratcheted up tensions with the government as it came under renewed attack for not following local laws.

  • Social media misuse: Facebook representatives depose before parliamentary committee

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Facebook India officials Tuesday deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology on the issue of misuse of social media platforms. Facebook and Google officials were summoned by parliamentary panel chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

    Facebook’s country public policy director Shivnath Thukral and general counsel Namrata Singh deposed before the panel on Tuesday. The agenda of the parliamentary panel meeting is to safeguard citizens’ rights and prevent the misuse of social/online news media platforms.

    Earlier Facebook representatives had informed the parliamentary panel that their company policy does not allow their officials to attend in-person meetings because of their COVID-related protocol. But chairman Shashi Tharoor conveyed to Facebook that its officials will have to appear in-person since the parliament secretariat does not allow any virtual meetings.

    The Parliamentary Committee on IT will also summon representatives of YouTube and other Social Media Intermediaries in the coming weeks over the issue. Facebook and Google representatives were called days after Twitter officials deposed before the panel.

    In the last meeting, several members of the panel had categorically told Twitter that the rule of land is supreme not the social media platform’s policies.