New Delhi: The scrutiny over social media platform, Facebook, on the allegations of being under the influence of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would continue before the standing committee of information technology which met on Wednesday to decide list of subjects for consideration for the next one year.
After the bitter tussle between the BJP and Congress led opposition in August over a story published by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which alleged that Facebook was influenced by the ruling party, the two political rivals seems to have agreed to let the parliamentary scrutiny continue for now and instead direct their questions at Facebook and its officials.
“It has been decided that the scrutiny over Facebook would continue. It was unanimously decided that the scrutiny that had started over the social media platform will not stop and we are waiting for the written answers from the company and its members so further steps can be taken,” said those in the know of development.
It also seems that the month-long break due to monsoon session of Parliament and constitution of the parliamentary committee again after completion of its term has allowed the two sides to end their differences at least within the parliamentary committee.
“There are no differences with Shashi Tharoor between members of BJP and Congress, he is the chairman of the parliamentary committee and the committee would continue to perform its duties under him. All members of the parliamentary committee work amicably,” said those in the know of development.
However, the recently found bonhomie between BJP and Congress was completely missing in August when some Members of Parliament (MPs) of BJP had reached out to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to raise their concerns about Tharoor.
According to people aware of developments, some of the key issues will the committee could take up over the next one year includes suspension of telecom services and internet, India’s preparedness for 5G, safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news platforms as well as those related to the film industry.
The parliamentary committee is likely to have two rounds of meetings next week. While the agenda of the meeting is not yet fixed it could be related to telecommunications. “Two rounds of meeting has been called for 15 October and 16 October. The availability of officials from telecommunications department is being checked and then the agenda will get finalized,” another person aware of developments added.
Last month, 24 Departmentally Related Standing Committee (DRSCs) of both the Houses got reconstituted by Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla in consultation with Chairman, Rajya Sabha, M. Venkaiah Naidu. Tharoor continues to be the chairperson of the parliamentary panel on IT. In 2019-2020, the panel held 23 sittings including those on safeguarding citizens rights, functioning of BSNL and MTNL and ethical standards in media coverage among others.
