Amid the continuing ‘toolkit’ row, Congress chief Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday stated the parliamentary panel on data and expertise had written to the IT ministry over its communication with Twitter on the ‘manipulated media’ situation and has obtained an in depth reply on it. Hitting again at BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who had accused him of utilizing his place as chairman of the panel to tarnish the picture of the Centre, Tharoor asserted that it was properly inside the mandate of the committee to search a clarification on Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MEITY) “contacts” with Twitter on the ‘manipulated media’ issue.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the BJP MP, who is a member of the panel, had referred to some recent remarks made by Tharoor on the Union government on the “toolkit issue”, and alleged that the Congress chief was “misusing” his official position to “tarnish” the picture of the Union authorities in addition to Parliament by elevating points that are exterior the purview of the parliamentary panel. Taking to Twitter, Tharoor stated that with reference to allegations circulated publicly lately by a member of the Parliamentary Committee on IT relating to the ‘manipulated media’ situation, it’s clarified that given the committee’s incapability to meet in present circumstances, it communicates with ministries in writing as required.
On the topic of the IT ministry’s “contacts with Twitter” on ‘Manipulated Media’, the Committee Secretariat wrote to MEITY by email and received a detailed and comprehensive reply dated May 26, which is being circulated to all members for their information, Tharoor said in a series of tweets. The committee is already examining the subject ‘safeguarding citizens’ rights & prevention of misuse of social/online media platforms” which relates to this situation, he stated.
It is due to this fact properly inside the committee’s mandate to search a clarification on this matter from the ministry involved, Tharoor asserted. In a jibe at Dubey, he stated, “As a matter of established follow and good kind, members with points to increase relating to the work of a parliamentary committee are suggested to talk straight with the Chairman and/or the Committee Secretariat, relatively than ventilating their considerations within the media with out dialogue.” Hours after a BJP spokesperson’s tweets on an alleged ‘toolkit’ on the Centre’s COVID-19 response were labelled as ‘manipulated media’, the government on Friday had asked Twitter to remove the tag, saying the social media platform cannot pass judgment on a matter under investigation. MEITY wrote “a strong communication” to Twitter registering objection to the usage of ‘manipulated media’ tag on sure tweets, in accordance to sources.
The BJP had accused the Congress of making a ‘toolkit’ that seeks to tarnish the picture of the nation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the dealing with of the Covid pandemic. However, the Congress denied the allegation and claimed that the BJP is propagating a faux ‘toolkit’ to defame it. Last week, Twitter labelled as “manipulated media” a tweet by Sambit Patra on the alleged ‘toolkit’. Twitter says it “may label tweets that include media (videos, audio, and images) that have been deceptively altered or fabricated”.
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