Why was Amit Shah’s Twitter account suspended for half an hour last year: BJP MPs at Parliamentary panel meet

At a meeting of a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology held in New Delhi on Thursday, BJP MPs grilled Twitter representatives on the microblogging site’s decision to suspend Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s account for half an hour in November last year.

Twitter’s representatives explained the action was taken as per their policy after algorithms flagged a copyright issue regarding a picture posted. However, the matter was clarified and the account was restored within half an hour, they told the panel, NDTV reported quoting sources.

The issue of banning accounts for hate speech, like in the case of former US President Donald Trump, was also discussed. While some MPs welcomed the move, others called it an arbitrary decision saying that some accounts in India have not been banned despite similar violations.

Interestingly, the agenda of today's meeting included safeguarding citizens' rights, preventing misuse of social news media platforms and women security in the digital space.

When concerns were raised over monetising of data by the platforms, the social media giants are said to have clarified that even though a lion’s share of their revenue relies on advertising, at no point data of users is shared with advertisers.

Facebook officials also agreed to respond to the issue in writing. The written explanation will also deal with about 15 questions put forth by the IT Ministry on data safety of Indian citizens, said sources.

Members of the panel also flagged the issue of proposed changes in the privacy policy of WhatsApp. The social media giant clarified that the policy was not new, and in fact, had been in place since 2016. “It has been openly put out only now,” they told the panel.