Meta, social media platforms must comply with Indian law: Government sources

Government sources said social media platforms, including Meta, must comply with Indian laws after a parliamentary panel sought an unconditional apology from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post

New Delhi: Social media platforms, including Meta, must comply with the law of the land, IT Ministry sources said on Wednesday, as a parliamentary panel asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue an “unqualified apology” within three days over the brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post recently.

Meta stands to lose its “safe harbour protection” in India if it fails to do so in the stipulated deadline.

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A high-level Meta delegation met IT Secretary S. Krishnan in the national capital to discuss the erroneous takedown of the Prime Minister’s video. They were also scheduled to meet Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Officials highlighted the need for clear compliance with existing rules and raised concerns over instances of alleged misuse of platforms, including the arbitrary dropping of the Prime Minister’s post, stressing that such issues need to be addressed on an urgent basis.

According to preliminary information, representatives from Meta and other social media platforms responded that they already have stringent internal rules and factchecking mechanisms and maintained that no misuse of their platforms is allowed deliberately or knowingly.

This was the first round of meetings, with another round scheduled for Thursday, according to sources.

Earlier, a Parliamentary Standing Committee took strong exception to the temporary removal of PM Narendra Modi’s video from Facebook and sought an apology from Zuckerberg.

According to a letter sent to the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the committee viewed the removal of the Prime Minister’s speech very seriously. The video, which featured PM Modi addressing students and Gen Z on examination-related controversies and the government’s crackdown on paper leaks, was reportedly unavailable on Facebook for around five to six hours.

The letter, signed by A. Jyothirmayi, Director in the Lok Sabha Secretariat, warned that the protection and immunity available to Zuckerberg could be reconsidered if an apology is not issued within the stipulated period.