MUMBAI: Amid growing concern about data security, Twitter CEO and senior officials declined to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology on 11 February. The global social media giant cited “short notice of the hearing” as reason for the refusal.

Earlier the Parliamentary Committee headed by Anurag Thakur issued a summon to Twitter via official letter to discuss the issues concerning the use of social media. While 7 February was decided as the date for meeting, it was rescheduled to 11 February to provide more time to Twitter CEO and senior officials.

"It may be noted that the head of the organisation has to appear before the committee," the letter clearly mentioned according to reports. "He/She may be accompanied by another representative," it further added.

Twitter's legal, policy, trust and safety global lead Vijaya Gadde sent back a letter stating, "No one who engages publicly for Twitter India makes enforcement decisions with respect to our rules for content or accounts in India."

The letter also added that deputing a junior employee to represent Twitter at the Indian Parliamentary IT Committee has not gone down well with Indian lawmakers especially since they have no decision making authority.