Meta's explanation 'not reasonable,' says govt after PM Modi Facebook video removal

The Central government has summoned Meta's President of Global Affairs, Joel Kaplan, and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri for discussions over the company's compliance with India's Information Technology (IT) Rules and concerns surrounding synthetically generated content on its platforms.

The move comes days after Meta briefly removed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook video addressing India's youth, a post that highlighted the government's resolve to crack down on paper leaks. Although the social media giant later restored the content and attributed the removal to an error in its automated content moderation system, the Centre said the explanation was not satisfactory.

According to government sources, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) wants a broader discussion with Meta beyond the removal of the Prime Minister's post. Officials are expected to raise concerns over the company's compliance with India's IT Rules, particularly provisions relating to the identification, labelling and moderation of synthetically generated or AI-generated content.

Sources said the summons was issued directly toKaplan and Mosseriafter the government felt Meta's India policy team had been unable to adequately convey the seriousness of the issues to the company's global leadership.

Meta has maintained that the Prime Minister's video was removed inadvertently due to a technical glitch in its automated filters and has since apologised for the incident. However, the Centre has indicated that the matter remains unresolved and expects stronger safeguards to prevent similar errors in the future.

The meeting is also expected to cover broader regulatory concerns related to AI-generated content, platform accountability and adherence to India's evolving digital governance framework, as the government seeks greater transparency from major technology companies operating in the country.