- Separately, platforms directed removing CSEAM; police filed FIRs.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has given Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg a three-day deadline to apologise over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 23 video from Facebook.
The committee, chaired by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, described the removal of the Prime Minister’s video as an “attack on democracy”, arguing that it targeted the elected representative of 1.4 billion Indians.
The controversy relates to the brief removal of a video posted by Prime Minister Modi on Instagram and later shared on Facebook before it was restored by Meta.
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Panel Warns Meta Over Safe Harbour Protection
Addressing reporters, Dubey said the committee had written to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs, arguing that the removal of the Prime Minister’s video was the responsibility of a publisher rather than an intermediary.
“We wrote to the Ministry of IT and the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that deleting the Prime Minister’s video was not the responsibility of an intermediary but that of a publisher. Therefore, Mark Zuckerberg must apologise within three days,” Dubey said.
He further warned that if the apology was not forthcoming, the committee would seek the withdrawal of the “safe harbour” protection currently available to social media platforms, alleging that the legal protection was being misused. Dubey also said widespread legal action could follow if people affected by objectionable content on Meta’s platforms began filing police complaints.
Meta Says Video Was Removed Due to Technical Glitch
The video, recorded in a selfie-style format, was Prime Minister Modi’s first direct address using that format. In it, he promised stringent action against paper leaks amid student protests led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
Meta briefly restricted the Facebook version of the video before restoring it after criticism from BJP leaders and social media users.
Earlier this week, the parliamentary panel questioned Meta officials over the incident. The company apologised and attributed the removal to a “technical glitch”. However, MeitY rejected the explanation as “not reasonable”, saying that if the incident resulted from a technical error, Meta should strengthen its systems to prevent similar lapses.
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Panel Directs Platforms to Remove CSEAM
In a separate direction, the parliamentary committee asked major digital platforms—including Google, YouTube, X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat—to remove Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and objectionable content targeting women within three days.
The panel warned that strict action could be taken against platforms that fail to comply with the directive.
Meanwhile, Telangana Police have registered separate FIRs against Google and Meta. Google has been accused of hosting fraudulent financial applications, while Meta has been booked over the circulation of a fake video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
