Centre Summons Meta Over Removal Of PM Modi’s Facebook Post
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The electronics and IT ministry (MeitY) has summoned Meta’s global head of public policy after Facebook temporarily removed a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at reaching the country’s youth.
A PTI report, citing sources, said the ministry has sought an explanation from the company over the temporary removal of the video, which was later restored.
A Meta spokesperson was cited as saying the post was removed inadvertently. “The content was removed in error and has since been restored,” the spokesperson added.
The video, posted on July 23 amid student protests over alleged paper leaks and irregularities in NEET exams, marked Modi’s first address to students. In the address, the PM outlined the Centre’s proposed measures to tackle paper leaks, including fast-track courts, and stricter penalties for offenders.
Inc42 has reached out to Meta for a comment on the matter. The story will be updated based on the company’s response.
Centre’s Scrutiny Of Social Media Deepens
The development comes amid heightened government scrutiny of social media companies over content moderation and online safety.
Separately, the Delhi Police has reportedly asked social media platforms to remove allegedly objectionable posts and videos targeting the PM that were shared during the student protests at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Police have also identified around 450 social media accounts that allegedly circulated deepfake and AI-generated content related to the protests and recommended action against them.
Amid the protests, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also said that the Indian government had asked GitHub to take down repositories linked to bitchat, an open-source messaging app that enables communication over Bluetooth mesh networks without internet access.
The July 23 direction from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre reportedly covered bitchat’s main source-code repository, Android repository and Android releases page.
The move came around the same time that mobile internet services were temporarily suspended within a 1.5-km radius of Jantar Mantar during the protests.
The Meta summons also follows MeitY’s recent intervention on WhatsApp’s proposed username feature. Earlier this month, the ministry asked the Meta-owned messaging platform to pause the rollout in India over concerns that usernames resembling those of individuals, financial institutions or government agencies could facilitate impersonation, phishing and online fraud.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology is scheduled to meet on August 3 to discuss the regulation of social and digital platforms. According to ANI, officials from MeitY and the Ministry of Home Affairs, along with representatives from Google, Meta, X and Snapchat, are expected to brief the panel.
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