Meta Tightens Safeguards For PM Modi, Other Prominent Accounts After MeitY Summons

A day after the Centre summoned a top Meta executive over the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post, the social media giant has sent a written response to the government outlining additional safeguards for content posted by the PM and other prominent accounts.

Meta has informed MeitY that such posts will now undergo additional oversight and multiple levels of review involving senior company officials, PTI reported, citing sources.

Any decision involving content posted by the PM and select prominent accounts will require checks by at least two senior Meta officials, the sources added.

The company further expressed regret over the incident, explained the circumstances that led to it, and outlined the corrective measures it has implemented.

A formal response to the Centre’s notice is expected soon, while a Meta team is likely to meet government officials later this week or early next week, the report added.

The development follows MeitY’s decision to summon Meta’s global head of public policy over the temporary removal of PM Modi’s July 23 Facebook video.

The video, aimed at engaging with the country’s youth amid protests over alleged paper leaks and examination irregularities, outlined the Centre’s proposed measures to tackle the issue, including fast-track courts and stricter penalties for offenders.

Meta later restored the post and said it was removed “in error”. The company is learnt to have blamed a glitch in its AI-powered automated content filters.

However, the government has found the explanation inadequate. IT secretary S Krishnan said that while Meta apologised and acknowledged the mistake, the ministry was not satisfied with its explanation.

“It is good that they have apologised and admitted what they did was a mistake. But we are not happy with the explanation… it is not adequate, and we are seeking more details,” Krishnan said.

Government sources were also cited as saying that Meta’s explanation was “not reasonable” and that the issue was “far from settled”.

By summoning Meta’s global leadership rather than only its India representatives, the government is also looking to directly raise its concerns around platform accountability with the company’s international management.

Meta Faces Wider Regulatory Scrutiny

The episode comes amid growing scrutiny of Meta and its platforms in India. MeitY has scrutinised the US-based company over reports of advertisements on Instagram allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Earlier this month, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed the ministry to seek an explanation from Meta over how such advertisements appeared on the platform.

The move followed a BBC report that found Instagram ads directing users to Telegram channels where sexually explicit content involving minors was allegedly being sold for as little as ₹99.

Meta later denied suggestions that its systems knowingly targeted such advertisements to users. “It is categorically inaccurate to suggest that we’d knowingly and deliberately target ads featuring children to people based on an inappropriate interest in children,” the company said in a blog post.

It said it uses technology to detect suspicious activity involving children. The company said it removed more than 4 Mn such accounts last year, along with 3.6 Cr pieces of content linked to child exploitation. It also removed 1.60 Lakh India-based accounts over the past six months.

Separately, MeitY has been looking into WhatsApp’s proposed username feature. The ministry asked the Meta-owned platform to pause the rollout and explain how it plans to deal with concerns around impersonation, fraud, data sharing across Meta apps and compliance with India’s traceability and data protection rules.

The post Meta Tightens Safeguards For PM Modi, Other Prominent Accounts After MeitY Summons appeared first on Inc42 Media.