Ever since Facebook-owned WhatsApp has made it a mandate for Indian users to accept the new privacy settings, there has been a lot of fuss about why there is a change in the policy terms for Indian users and global users on WhatsApp. Due to the same fact and considering the other aspect of Indian user’s data, a parliamentary committee on Thursday, January 21, has summoned the officials of social media giants Facebook and Twitter. The issue they have been called up for is related to safeguarding citizens’ rights and preventing misuse of social/online news media platforms.
The 31-member panel, headed by senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor will convene the meeting at 4 pm, on Thursday, 21 January. The summons has been sent amidst the outrage over digital rights after WhatsApp announced the new policy changes, giving the data access right to Facebook. WhatsApp has already extended the deadline to May 15 after millions of users migrated to alternates like Telegram and Singal.
As per the official statement in the agenda of the meeting, “Evidence of representatives of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and to hear the views of the representatives of Facebook and Twitter on the subject ‘Safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space.” Previous to this, Facebook and Twitter representatives were also called in October 2020 regarding data protection and privacy issues. It seems like there will be a certain change in the privacy policies of WhatsApp after government intervention.