Senior global executives from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, will meet officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on August 5 and 6. The meeting comes after Facebook temporarily removed a reel posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The government called the meeting after the Prime Minister's video remained unavailable on Facebook for nearly five hours on July 28.
PM Modi's Facebook Reel Sparks Government Concern
The removed Facebook reel showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing nationwide protests over the NEET-UG paper leak. After the video disappeared from the platform, MeitY asked Meta to explain why the content had been taken down.
Government to Discuss Multiple Issues With Meta
MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said the upcoming meeting will focus on several important issues, not just the removal of the Prime Minister's video.
Officials will review whether Meta is following Indian laws. They will also discuss the company's efforts to curb Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), monitor AI-generated content and prevent the wrongful removal of posts from verified accounts.
“There will be a range of issues…We know that the CSAM issue was raised…what measures have been taken regarding that? Synthetically generated information…to what extent that is being looked at? For prominent personalities, they have verified accounts. When content gets taken down, there have to be safeguards. We would like to understand from them as to why some of these things have not been working the way they are supposed to work and what are their challenges. After all, these are some of the world’s leading technology companies and they should have technology to make this work,” Krishnan said.
Government Seeks Answers From Meta's Global Leadership
The ministry decided to meet Meta's global leadership after expressing dissatisfaction with the company's India policy team. According to officials, Meta's India office failed to properly convey the government's concerns to senior executives based in the United States.
Krishnan did not disclose the names of the executives visiting India. Meta's global public policy and global affairs operations are led by Joel Kaplan, Chief Global Affairs Officer, and Kevin Martin, Vice-President and Head of Global Policy. However, the company did not comment on the meeting.
Parliamentary Panel Demands Zuckerberg's Apology
The meeting also follows demands from Nishikant Dubey, chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications. Dubey asked Meta CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg to apologise over the removal of the Prime Minister's video.
He also warned that Meta could face the loss of its safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act if the company failed to issue an apology.
What Safe Harbour Protection Means
Section 79 of the Information Technology Act protects online platforms from legal liability for content posted by users. However, companies receive this protection only if they follow due diligence requirements and comply with lawful government directions.
The government cannot remove this protection on its own. Only the courts can decide whether a platform continues to qualify for safe harbour under the law.
Meta Blames Algorithmic Error
During a recent meeting of the parliamentary committee, a Meta executive apologised for removing the Prime Minister's Facebook reel. The executive said an algorithmic error mistakenly removed the video.
Meta also assured the committee that it would improve its algorithms to stop similar incidents from happening again. The company has not responded to the latest request for comment regarding the demand for an apology from Mark Zuckerberg.