2020 riots: Facebook officials to depose before Delhi panel on Nov 18

Facebook India public policy director Shivnath Thukral and legal director G V Anand Bhushan will depose before the Delhi Assembly's Peace and Harmony Committee on November 18 over the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Summons were issued by the committee to Facebook India to depose its views on the critical role of social media in preventing the spread of false, provocative, and malicious messages that can incite violence and disharmony, the committee said in the statement.

The committee chaired by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Raghav Chadha will convene its meeting at 12.30 pm on November 18 at Delhi Vidhan Sabha.

The committee has so far heard seven witnesses while examining the role of social media in connection with north east Delhi riots that claimed over 50 lives and left hundreds of people injured in February 2020.

The proceedings of the committee will be streamed live in view of transparency, added the statement.

At least 53 people died and hundreds were injured in clashes between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it between February 23 and February 26, 2020, in northeast Delhi.