A high-stakes meeting of India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT ended with strong demands for accountability from social media giant Meta following the temporary removal of a video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Heading the panel, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey stated that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg must personally apologize for the lapse, warning that failure to establish clear accountability could jeopardize the platform’s legal protection under Indian law.
Key Highlights of the Hearing
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Demand for Zuckerberg’s Apology: Committee Chief Nishikant Dubey emphasized that a standard corporate apology from Meta is insufficient. He noted that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg must issue an apology himself, or the platform risks losing its “safe harbour” protection in India—a legal provision that shields online intermediaries from liability regarding third-party content.
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Questioning Platform Accountability: During the panel session—which included representatives from Meta, Google, YouTube, and officials from the Union Home Ministry and MeitY—MPs raised sharp concerns over user protection. Panel members pointed out that if a video of the country’s Prime Minister could be arbitrarily taken down, standard social media users face severe vulnerability.
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The Incident: The video in question contained PM Modi addressing Indian youth with promises of a strict crackdown on exam paper leaks. Meta admitted the content was missing from the platform for roughly five hours (from 12:30 AM to 5:00 AM), attributing the incident to a technical glitch.
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Concerns Over Algorithmic Bias: The parliamentary panel highlighted broader worries regarding algorithm manipulation and its potential to stir public disorder. Dubey pointed to metrics showing that unverified entities and provocative groups were receiving significantly higher algorithmic reach (27 million) compared to all recognized political parties combined (23 million).
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Legal and Regulatory Pressure: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) previously summoned Meta’s global team regarding algorithmic processes, deeming their initial explanations “inadequate.” Simultaneously, police in Hyderabad have filed cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas over morphed and AI-generated content targeting the Prime Minister.
