Parliamentary Panel to Grill Tech Giants on Privacy and Public Order
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has called representatives from major social media and digital platforms for a meeting on August 3, 2026, to deliberate on regulation, privacy protections, and public order concerns.
The agenda, according to a notice, includes a 'briefing by the representatives of (i) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); (ii) Ministry of Home Affairs; and (iii) Social and Digital Media Platforms — Snapchat, Google, X (formerly Twitter), Meta (Facebook and Instagram) on the subject ‘Social and digital platforms and their regulation’.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who chairs the committee, said in a post on X that the meeting will focus on how the platforms protect the privacy of vulnerable groups and ensure compliance with government orders regarding public order. 'How will the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural folks, labourers, and the general public be protected? How do these companies ensure the government’s public order?' he wrote.
The development comes amid ongoing debates over data protection and the role of digital platforms in shaping public discourse. The Supreme Court is also examining what constitutes 'personal data' under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, as noted in a related report.
The committee is expected to question platform representatives on their data handling practices, content moderation policies, and measures to prevent misuse for incitement or disinformation.
