The Parliamentary Panel on Information and Technology has directed Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram to ensure that their platforms are not used to incite violence or meddle in the Lok Sabha election.
This is the third meeting of the panel with social media platforms. The last meeting was with Twitter officials.
Fake news
“We had a constructive meeting. These platforms are used by millions of users in India. They should not be misused by hatemongers or fake news peddlers. Importantly, we told them to ensure that there should not be any foreign interference in our election,” Anurag Thakur, Chairman of Parliamentary committee on IT, told The Hindu . Mr. Thakur added that Facebook had agreed to regular meetings with the Election Commission.
According to sources, the panel members grilled the officials of Facebook.
“The question is, is Facebook a technology company advertising firm, a media firm or marketing firm? They were not able to give us any clear answer to this fundamental question,” a member told The Hindu . Facebook, according to sources, said that they are a “hybrid company”.
Cloned accounts
The members raised the issue of cloned and fake accounts. A member claimed that there were so many accounts under his name that he no longer knew which one was his own.
They also questioned Facebook on its regulatory frame work on content, advertising and marketing operations in India.
Joel Kaplan, vice-president, global public policy, and Ajit Mohan, vice-president and managing director, Facebook India, and Ankhi Das, director, public policy and programs, India, attended the meeting.
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