Meta’s explanation ‘not reasonable,’ government says after PM Modi removes video from Facebook | Today’s news
Meta’s president of global affairs, Joel Kaplan, was summoned by the Center on Tuesday after Facebook, one of the US-based social media company’s subsidiaries, removed a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he addressed Indian youth and promised strict action against the paper leaks.
According to PTI sources, Meta told the government that a bug in its automatic content filters led to the removal of PM Modi’s Facebook post. However, the government did not find Meta’s explanation reasonable and wanted deeper discussions, adding that the matter was “not settled and done”.
Sources told PTI that the Center believes that Meta needs to improve its tools if an error in the automated system caused the error.
Read also | Meta says PM Modi’s Facebook video ‘deleted by mistake’, restores post
“Removing Prime Minister Modi’s reel from Instagram is just one of the issues that will be discussed,” a senior IT ministry official told Hindustan Times (HT). “MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) wants to have a larger conversation about synthetically generated content on their platforms and non-compliance with IT rules.”
Joel Kaplan and Instagram’s head, Adam Mosseri, were reportedly called out via email, according to a HT report, over India’s Meta team’s failure to communicate the severity of the issues to the US team.
The summons came hours after the Meta issued a statement blocking Prime Minister Modi’s Facebook video. “The content was removed in error and has since been restored,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Read also | Nitin Gadkari nods Bombay HC to sue Met and Google over E20 petrol deepfakes
Modi’s IG post line
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 23 Instagram post, later shared on Facebook, featured his first direct selfie video, aimed at engaging youth and underscoring the government’s commitment to crack down on paper leaks, but Meta was subsequently restricted on Facebook.
BJP worker Priti Gandhi highlighted the issue on X, where she slammed Met for allegedly restricting Modi’s selfie video on Facebook, saying the move raised questions about the company’s political bias, transparency and accountability.
“Prime Minister of world’s largest democracy uploads his first live selfie video to connect with Indian youth… and Facebook cuts it??? Who gave Meta the power to decide what millions of Indians should or shouldn’t see???” she said.
She added: “This is not just content moderation. It raises serious questions about your political bias, transparency and accountability. Answer!!!”
Meta apologized, admitting the content was removed “in error” and has since restored it to the platform. “The content was removed in error and has since been restored,” a Meta spokesperson said.
Read also | A meta that alerts parents if their teen shows signs of anxiety while chatting with its AI
Meta faces regulatory scrutiny
Over the past few weeks, Meta has faced regulatory scrutiny on a number of issues.
The IT ministry had earlier issued a WhatsApp notice challenging the Meta-owned platform’s proposed username feature as the government flagged concerns that it could substantially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrests and impersonation attacks. The Center has also directed WhatsApp not to launch the feature until consultations on the matter are completed “to the satisfaction of the government”.
WhatsApp has subsequently assured the government that it will not roll it out in India until discussions are complete.
The government has also come down hard on Meta for its Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (CSEAM) material in paid ads on Instagram. MeitY ordered Instagram to ban all ads and content that promotes or facilitates access to CSEAM and demanded a detailed explanation with a deadline.
Within days of the alert, Meta outlined its efforts to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in its apps, highlighting AI-based detection and extensive enforcement action, and vowed in a blog post to continue investing in technology and resources to keep young people safe and strengthen its ad review processes.
Just a few weeks ago, Meta’s announcement of Muse Image, then touted as its most powerful AI image generator, drew criticism and user concerns about privacy, image scraping and consent, and the Indian government said at the time that it would review Meta’s Muse AI image generator under the existing legal framework.
However, the social media platform subsequently removed a controversial feature that allowed users around the world to create AI images using public Instagram accounts.
“We’ve heard feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available,” Meta said in a global post.
As social media platforms increasingly reshape the contours of digital content, public narratives, and data ecosystems, the Center has strengthened oversight of emerging technologies in the AI era with a sharper focus on platform accountability and safeguards for user rights, privacy, transparency, and consent.
