Meta apologises to Ashwini Vaishnaw for restricting PM Modi's post

Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan apologised to Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for restricting PM Narendra Modi's post on Facebook. The company is facing heightened scrutiny over its content moderation practices in India.

Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan on Wednesday apologised to Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on behalf of the company for the error that led to the restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's post last month on Facebook.

"I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post," Kaplan said after meeting Vaishnaw along with his team on Wednesday. Facebook is owned by Meta. There has been heightened scrutiny of Meta's content moderation practices in India.

Meta has accepted the mistake that a lot of illegal content was promoted and paid promotion was carried out for a specific audience, sources said on Wednesday. The sources said that Meta will be called again over the concerns.

The sources also said that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sent his apologies to the government over Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), deepfake content and errors in the operation of the social media platform. They said it was conveyed to Meta that the company is not covered under the definition of an "intermediary" where they select who receives content and safe harbour under the Information Technology Act is not applicable.

"Mark Zuckerberg sent his apologies for the CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) content, deepfake content and errors in operating the platform. It was made clear to them that they are not covered under the Intermediary definition. They select who receives the content. Safe harbour under IT Act not applicable," a source said.

Probes Into Child Abuse Material

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which sent a notice to Meta last month taking suo moto cognizance of a media report of BBC Eye, regarding alleged advertisements related to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), has decided to institute an inquiry in the matter, government sources said on Tuesday. They said that NCPCR sought an explanation from Meta and in response, Meta submitted its reply after a week.The Child Protection Organisation had issued notice to Meta Platforms Inc. on July 3.

"NCPCR has decided to institute an inquiry to determine the facts of the matter," a source said. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had earlier directed the Delhi Police to conduct a comprehensive probe into allegations that paid advertisements on Meta-owned Instagram promoted Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in India, and to examine whether the tech company and other concerned entities complied with mandatory reporting obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The NHRC took cognisance of media reports published by the BBC World Service alleging that advertisements on Instagram used particular expressions and redirected users to channels where such material was allegedly being offered for sale. The Commission, in a letter on July 8, directed the Commissioner of Police, Delhi, to submit a comprehensive Action Taken Report (ATR) on the matter. The proceedings were initiated after a complaint/intimation dated July 6 was placed before the Commission. NHRC had written another letter to Delhi Police on July 29 for submitting the requisite report.

Parliamentary Committee Demands Zuckerberg's Apology

BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT, said earlier in the day that they 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 apologize within three days. If he fails to do so, we will revoke the 'safe harbour' protection currently provided to social media platforms, a privilege that they have been misusing. Consider the abusive language, violence, and objectionable content that appear on these platforms. If FIRs are filed against the Meta chief by everyone affected by such content, there could be a nationwide flood of FIRs, and those responsible may face legal consequences," he said. The committee held a meeting on Monday.

Dubey had said after the meeting that the committee has taken a serious view of the removal from Facebook last month of PM Modi's video on action against examination paper leaks and Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg should tender an apologise and if this is not done the safe harbour protection under Section 79 "should be withdrawn". Dubey also raised questions about the viewership algorithm of big social media companies, saying "they have a policy of giving preference to newcomers".

Dubey, who is BJP MP from Godda, said Meta had admitted that the content of PM's video was missing for over four hours. "Meta India removed the Prime Minister's content. This is not the first time Meta India has done this. If you recall, Zuckerberg himself made a statement in January regarding the 2024 elections and later apologized. This shows that his intention is to destabilise the country. When a video of the Prime Minister of India can be removed, and they themselves admitted that the content was missing for five hours, from 12:30 am to 5:00 am, this is a very serious matter," he said.

"Our committee has said two things and has clearly stated that the apology should come from Zuckerberg. If Zuckerberg does not give it, then the safe harbour protection under Section 79 should be withdrawn from him," he added.

The Meta-owned social media platform restricted access to the PM Modi's video last month before restoring it. The video, released on July 23, marked Prime Minister Modi's first direct address to Gen Z during the 36-day-long Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student agitation over the NEET-UG 2026 examination irregularities. In the video, the Prime Minister assured students that the government would take stronger action against examination paper leaks, saying stricter legal provisions would be brought before the Union Cabinet.

Dubey had also said CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) is another issue. "YouTube also has that content. Meta also has that content, and they do not remove content related to child abuse. They do not remove content related to women. Both these rules of the Government of India are very strict, and on top of that, they do not listen to the Home Ministry. They do not listen to the IT Ministry either," he said.

"So, we have said that in all these matters, and in many other matters, you know that the Chief Minister of the Congress government of Telangana has filed an FIR against Meta India. We have said that safe harbour should be removed in all these matters," he added.

Meta had said on July 28 that PM Modi's Facebook video on action against examination paper leaks was removed due to a technical error and was restored."The content was removed in error and has since been restored," a Meta spokesperson had said in a statement.

The cabinet last month approved the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. The Bill has since been passed by the both Houses of Parliament. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)