Government summons Meta over PM Modi’s post removal; policy talks slated for next week
The Indian government will hold discussions with social media giant Meta within a week over several concerns, including the brief restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post, a senior official said on Thursday.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has summoned Meta’s public policy head after a video post by the Prime Minister, addressing youth and promising stringent action against exam paper leaks, was temporarily restricted on July 23. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, but the government found the explanation “inadequate”.
Speaking at a CII conference on semiconductors, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government has asked Meta to come in at the highest level and explain the issue. “They will be coming and explaining what the situation is. We want to have both a policy-level and a technical understanding of the issues, and an adaptation to the kinds of concerns India has in this regard,” he said. “I think, within the next week, they will be coming.”
Meta has since written to the government outlining enhanced safeguards for content posted by the Prime Minister and other prominent accounts. Sources said the new protocols include multiple levels of checks involving senior company officials, with any decision requiring review by at least two senior officials. Meta has expressed regret over the incident and shared its assessment of the corrective measures implemented from July 28 onwards.
The incident sparked concerns over content moderation practices in India, which is a key market for Meta. The government has raised several issues that will be discussed during the upcoming meetings, including policy alignment and technical safeguards. Krishnan noted that Meta has provided reasons for the glitch and indicated steps to prevent recurrence.
PM Modi’s July 23 post, his first direct selfie video aimed at engaging with youth and addressing exam leak protests, was briefly restricted on Facebook before being restored. The global head of public policy at Meta was summoned by MeitY following the incident.
