As Tharoor Seeks to Take up Facebook Issue, BJP MP Says Parl Panel Shouldn't Become Political Platform

A Twitter duel erupted on Monday between BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Opposition MPs Shashi Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology, and Mahua Moitra over the prospect of the panel seeking views of Facebook about a media report claiming that it refused to apply hate speech rules to certain ruling party politicians.

In the report published on Friday, US newspaper Wall Street Journal cited interviews with unnamed Facebook insiders to claim that one of its senior India policy executives intervened in internal communication to stop a permanent ban on a BJP MLA from Telangana after he allegedly made communally charged posts.

Reacting to the development, Tharoor said on Sunday that the panel would like to hear from Facebook about the report and what they propose to do about hate-speech in India.

BJP MP and IT panel member Nishikant Dubey, reacting to Tharoor's comments, had said these panels should not be made a political platform by members to satisfy "ego of their respective party leaders".

The matter again gathered steam when Dubey tweeted on Monday morning, saying the Chairman of the Standing Committee does not have the authority to do anything without discussion of the agenda with its members. "@Shashi Tharoor stop @Rahul Gandhi agenda without authorisation by the Committee and Speaker @Om Birla," he said.

This drew a sharp response from Trinamool Congress MP and member IT Committee Mahua Moitra who said when to schedule each item and who to call is the Chairman's prerogative.

"Am IT committee member – agenda item was already agreed and bulletinised with Speaker's approval at the beginning of the year. When to schedule each item and who to call is Chairman's prerogative," she said on Twitter.

"Amazing how BJP jumps up and down at anything to do with FB's interests!" she alleged. Tagging Moitra's tweet, Tharoor said on Twitter, "You are absolutely right…by imputing motives to my decision, Nishikant Dubey has brought the Committee's work into disrepute, a matter I will take up."

Extraordinary that an MP would suggest that a matter of such great public interest should "not be taken up by us", Tharoor said. Dubey responded by saying, "Thanks for your comment, time will tell who brought the committee's work into disrepute Mr. Chairman."

To Moitra's remarks, Dubey cited committee rules to counter her assertions. A slugfest had erupted between the Congress and the BJP on Sunday following the report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Facebook ignored applying its hate speech rules to politicians of the ruling party in India.