Meta apologises before Parliament panel over removal of PM Modi’s Facebook video
NEW DELHI: Parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology chairman Nishikant Dubey on Monday said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg should personally apologise over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook video, warning that the social media giant could lose its safe harbour protection if it failed to do so.Dubey’s remarks came after Meta apologised before the parliamentary panel, saying the PM Modi’s video was removed due to an error. However, members of the committee said the issue went beyond an apology and demanded accountability for the incident.Addressing reporters after chairing the committee meeting, Dubey said, “…Understand the situation that has arisen within the algorithm. What Meta India did, what X did, and what YouTube did is a matter that the country should know. If you look at the viewership algorithm of the BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Aam Aadmi Party, the viewership is only 23 million. And those who are neither registered parties nor registered NGOs, their algorithm is 27 million. All political parties together are at 23-24 million. An anti-reservation forum has just been formed five or six days ago, and it reached 7 million. The reason for that is that they have a policy of giving preference to newcomers.”On the removal of the Prime Minister’s video, he said, “The second question is that Meta India removed the Prime Minister’s content. This is not the first time Meta India has done this. If you recall, Zuckerberg himself made a statement in January regarding the 2024 elections and later apologized. This shows that his intention is to destabilise the country. When a video of the Prime Minister of India can be removed, and they themselves admitted that the content was missing for five hours, from 12:30 am to 5:00 am, this is a very serious matter. Our committee has said two things and has clearly stated that the apology should come from Zuckerberg. If Zuckerberg does not give it, then the safe harbour protection under Section 79 should be withdrawn from him.”Dubey also raised concerns over the handling of child sexual abuse material and other objectionable content on social media platforms.He said, “CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) is another issue. YouTube also has that content. Meta also has that content, and they do not remove content related to child abuse. They do not remove content related to women. Both these rules of the Government of India are very strict, and on top of that, they do not listen to the Home Ministry. They do not listen to the IT Ministry either. So, we have said that in all these matters, and in many other matters, you know that the Chief Minister of the Congress government of Telangana has filed an FIR against Meta India. We have said that safe harbour should be removed in all these matters…”Earlier in the day, Meta apologised before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, saying the removal of PM Modi’s Facebook video was the result of an error. According to ANI sources, several committee members questioned Meta officials and said the issue was not about an apology but about fixing accountability. Members also sought details on the company’s action against controversial and objectionable content on its platforms.ANI sources said, “The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT took a tough stance over the removal of PM Modi’s video from Facebook. During the committee meeting, several members posed tough questions to Meta officials. Meta officials apologized, stating that the PM’s video was removed due to an error. Several committee members said the issue was not about an apology, but about fixing accountability. Committee members also demanded legal action against the Meta official responsible for removing the video. Members further sought details from Meta on what action the company has taken regarding controversial and objectionable content present on its platforms. Meeting is still underway.”The meeting, attended by representatives of Meta, Google, YouTube, X and Snapchat, along with officials from the Union home ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), was convened to discuss the regulation of social and digital media platforms.
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The controversy stems from the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Modi’s Facebook post in which he addressed India’s youth and promised stringent action against paper leaks. While Meta restored the content and attributed the removal to a technical error, the MeitY termed the explanation “inadequate”, saying the issue also concerned national security and public order.
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Separately, Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police has registered cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and certain Facebook and Instagram accounts over allegedly morphed and AI-generated posts targeting the Prime Minister.