Meta apologizes for removing Modi’s Facebook video addressing students

In a video released on July 23, Mr. Modi sought to assure students that his administration was taking strong action on the NEET paper leaks. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

The Union government has asked the Met for a formal explanation after a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefly taken down by Facebook due to what the platform’s automatic notification initially described as a “legal requirement”.

In a video released on July 23, Mr. Modi sought to assure students that his administration was taking strong action on the NEET exam paper leaks.

A source familiar with the matter told The Hindu that the post was mistakenly flagged by an automated moderation tool designed to filter AI-generated content. Facebook’s parent company is said to have apologized for the error. The video was only downloaded in India and remained available elsewhere in the world.

“The content was removed by mistake and has since been restored,” a Meta spokesperson told The Hindu.

A rough patch

It is understood the government has summoned a senior official from Meta’s policy and government relations team to explain the error and discuss compliance issues with the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Code of Conduct) 2021.

As The Hindu reported earlier this year, India is now among a small group of nations where removal requests are processed automatically by the government. X, formerly Twitter, continues to challenge the many takedown notices it receives under § 79(3)(a). b) of the IT Act. Such orders expose the platform to legal liability if the content in question ends up in court.

Meta has been in the EU government’s crosshairs for the past few weeks due to WhatsApp’s proposed username feature – which the IT ministry warned could encourage impersonation – and a BBC investigation that uncovered child sexual abuse material (CSAM) ads on Instagram.

Published – 28 Jul 2026 22:46 IST