How can Google be a ‘neutral platform’ while engaging in both advertising and content, asks Parliamentary panel

A parliamentary panel on Thursday questioned “neutrality” of Google when it is engaged in both advertising and content, and asked was it not violating fundamental rights of users by “controlling” their choices. Top executives of the search engine appeared before the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Personal Data Protection Bill and responded to queries related to data security. According to sources, some panel members asked them whether the search engine is “controlling the choices of your users, isn’t it violation of fundamental rights?” Watch | All about the Personal Data Protection Bill During the meeting, MPs cutting across party lines asked how can Google be a “neutral platform” when it is engaged in both advertising and content, and how is it possible that it does not give “preferential treatment” to some advertisers in search results, sources said. A few MPs also posed queries about Google’s linkages with public relations and image makeover agencies for positive public profiling of individuals on the web by suppressing critical content against them, sources said.