Twitter India has two days to respond to queries on Ravi Shankar Prasad and Shashi Tharoor's handles.
Twitter India must explain within two days why the microblogging account of Union Minister for Information and Technology (IT) Ravi Shankar Prasad, along with that of opposition MP Shashi Tharoor, was recently locked for a brief period. The Parliamentary Committee on IT, of which the Congress leader is Chairman, also asked Facebook and Google to comply with new IT rules and follow the country's laws, according to sources.
Last Friday, Mr Prasad had said that Twitter had denied him access to his account for almost an hour following complaints that he had violated copyright law. Mr Tharoor, too, faced similar action, along with several other users.
Confirming the move, Twitter cited a complaint based on the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to justify its action.
While Mr Prasad linked the move to an ongoing tussle between Twitter and the Indian government, Mr Tharoor said the DMCA was "getting hyperactive". He then said the IT panel will seek an explanation from the site.
Twitter India was today instructed to explain under what provisions these two accounts were locked for a brief period.
On June 18, representatives from the microblogging site appeared before the same panel. The meeting took place against the backdrop of the US-based social media giant's recent run-ins with the government on a series of issues.
Executives of Facebook India and Google, meanwhile, deposed before the House panel today over issues like safeguarding citizens' rights and prevention of social or online news media platforms' misuse, according to sources.
Besides complying with India's new IT Rules, the Committee directed both to follow the instructions issued by the government as well as court orders. It told the executives that there were loopholes in the two companies' existing data protection policies.
The Panel has now decided to call senior IT Ministry officials on July 6 to discuss the compliance issues related to Twitter India.