Not Virtually, Appear In Person: Parliamentary Panel To Tell Facebook

Shashi Tharoor has said that the Parliament Secretariat can make arrangements for vaccination of the company's officials if required.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, will direct Facebook executives to appear "in person" when it examines the company's policies on upholding citizens' rights and preventing misuse of the social media platform, sources said. The panel on Friday grilled Twitter officials for over 90 minutes over, among other issues, not fully implementing the new rules for social media intermediaries. It will now also call Google, YouTube, and other big companies for such in-person meetings.   Facebook representatives were unwilling to appear in person citing the company's anti-Covid policy. However, Mr Tharoor, chairman of the powerful panel, has now insisted on it as parliamentary rules prohibit virtual meetings, sources said. Mr Tharoor has said the Parliament Secretariat can make arrangements to vaccinate them if required.