PM's video removed from FB: Parl panel gives Zuckerberg 3 days to apologise, threatens to withdraw immunity

A parliamentary panel on Wednesday August 5, gave Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg three days to apologise for the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video from Facebook and threatened to withdraw immunity if it was not done, a move that may lead to prosecution and registration of an FIR.

In a letter to the secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT, a director of the Lok Sabha secretariat said removal of the Prime Minister's video addressing students and Gen Z regarding examination controversies and strict actions against paper leaks from Facebook for five-six hours had been viewed very seriously.

"During the deliberations, the Committee demanded an apology from Mr Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Chief on this issue. If he fails to tender an unqualified apology within 3 days of receipt of this letter, the protection/immunity given under Section 79(3) of IT Act may be withdrawn and action taken against him as a Publisher," said the letter signed by A Jyothirmayi.

The parliamentary standing committee on information technology, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, also demanded action against intermediary platforms that carry child sexual abuse material (CSEAM) and demeaning material against women.

"If the intermediary platforms fail to remove CASM material from their portals, action should be taken under section 79(3) of IT Act," the letter said.

"Mark Zuckerberg must apologise within three days. If he does not apologise, we will withdraw the safe harbour protection that has been given to these social media platforms which they misuse. Then, for every abusive, violent and objectionable post that appears on social media platforms, FIRs will be lodged against the Meta chief. There will be a flood of FIRs across the country, and after that they will all be behind bars," Dubey told reporters in Parliament House complex.

The parliamentary panel also sought government of India action against Google India head over investors losing more than Rs 48 lakh through fraud apps.

"The Committee while discussing Hyderabad Cyber Police Action against the Google India Head as a co-accused along with the Cyber fraudsters after the complainants alleged that they lost more than Rs.48 lakhs by investing through fraud Apps, the Committee desired that similar action be taken against the Google India by the Government of India," the letter stated.

The letter comes two days after the committee held a meeting with representatives of the ministries of Home Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology as well as the platforms Snapchat, Google, X, Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) and YouTube on 'Social and Digital Platforms and their Regulation'.

A parliamentary standing committee can only recommend, the action has to be taken by the government.

On Wednesday, the Meta global team met top IT ministry officials here following government summons over the removal of Modi's post. Wrongful action on prominent post and lapses in curbing child sexual abuse material on social media platform were among the concerns raised by the government.

Top Meta executives, including Global Affairs officer Joel Kaplan, met IT secretary S Krishnan and other senior officials of Meity in a discussion that lasted 45 minutes.

After the committee meeting on Monday, Dubey said this was not the first time that Meta had removed a video.

"In 2024, Mark Zuckerberg had made objectionable comments on Parliamentary election results. Their mindset is to destabilise the country," he alleged.

He said social media platforms don't listen to the directives of the Ministries of Home Affairs and IT.

Addressing the panel, Dubey said temporary removal of the prime minister's official Facebook post was a serious issue and the committee wanted to know why this was done.

"Either there is a serious failure of the system or there is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of PM of our country on the part of Meta and Instagram. If this is the way Meta deals with the official post of the PM what to speak of the post of the common man of our country. Such a failure cannot be dismissed merely as a technical error," he said.

The US-headquartered social media giant has attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) found the explanation "inadequate". The company said the content was removed "in error" and was restored on the platform.

Section 79 of the IT Act provides for exemption from liability of intermediary in certain cases.

However, Section 79(3) states that the safe harbour protection will be lost under two conditions -- if the intermediary has "conspired, abetted, aided, or induced (by threats, promises, or otherwise) the commission of the unlawful act on its platform".

"Immunity is lost if the intermediary fails to expeditiously remove or disable access to unlawful material after receiving "actual knowledge" of the material being used for an unlawful act," it adds.

In such cases, the government can prosecute the intermediary -- in this case Meta and its functionaries.