New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology has asked Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to apologise within three days over the brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video from Facebook, warning that the company could lose its “safe harbour” protection if it fails to act.
The committee, chaired by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, described the temporary removal of the Prime Minister’s July 23 video as an “attack on democracy” and said Meta must identify and act against those responsible for the incident.
According to media reports, the committee has written to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs, arguing that the removal of the Prime Minister’s video was not the function of an intermediary but amounted to the actions of a publisher. It warned that if Meta failed to take corrective action and issue an apology, the government should consider withdrawing the company’s safe harbour protection.
Dubey said social media platforms were misusing the legal immunity available to intermediaries. He warned that the removal of safe harbour protection could expose Meta officials to criminal complaints across the country if users choose to file cases over content moderation decisions.
Prime Minister Modi’s video, first posted on Instagram and later shared on Facebook, featured his first direct selfie message addressed to Gen Z, in which he promised stringent measures to curb examination paper leaks during the nationwide student protests over alleged examination irregularities. The Facebook version of the video was briefly restricted before being restored following public criticism.
Earlier this week, Meta executives appeared before the parliamentary panel and faced questions over the incident. The company apologised, attributing the removal to a technical glitch. However, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology reportedly rejected the explanation, saying it was not satisfactory and that a technology company of Meta’s scale should ensure such incidents do not recur.
The committee also expressed concern over the presence of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram and warned that all major social media platforms would face legal consequences if they failed to comply with Indian laws governing such content.
The warning applies to platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google, YouTube, X and Snapchat.
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