Zuckerberg should apologise over PM's video removal: IT panel chief
The head of the department-related standing committee on information technology, Nishikant Dubey, on Monday, August 3, said that the Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg should personally apologise for the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video from Facebook, while several other members demanded legal action after fixing accountability.
However, according to sources, opposition MPs on the panel said space for dissent on social media is essential and anti-government content should not be considered anti-national.
"They (Meta) themselves admitted that it (video) was taken down for five hours, missing from 12:30 at night to 5:00 in the morning.
This is a very serious matter and an apology must come from Zuckerberg's side," Dubey said after an over three-hour meeting of the parliamentary panel, during which MPs questioned Meta representatives.
Dubey, a BJP MP, said that if Zuckerberg does not apologise, the safe harbour protection Meta enjoys under Section 79 should be withdrawn, referring to the provision of the Information Technology Act under which social media networks and internet service providers are not held legally responsible for third-party content on their platforms.
The questioning came against the backdrop of the government's summons to Meta's top executives after Prime Minister Modi's recent Facebook post addressing India's youth and promising stringent action against paper leaks was briefly restricted on the platform.
The parliamentary panel on Monday asked Meta to clarify its stand in writing within 10 days.
Dubey said this was not the first time Meta has removed a video, alleging that Zuckerberg had made objectionable comments on parliamentary election results in 2024. "Their mindset is to destabilise the country," he alleged.
"The prime minister's video was removed for five hours. They don't listen to the directives of the Ministries of Home Affairs and IT. I want to say that Mark Zuckerberg should personally apologise for the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video," Dubey said.
At the meeting, members pointed out that while Meta earns huge revenue from India, it does not follow the law of the land, according to sources. They also questioned Meta officials over algorithmic bias, saying objectionable content related to child and women sexual abuse is freely available on the platform while "genuine" content was removed.
An MP asked Meta representatives why, when Facebook has not removed a lot of other objectionable content, the prime minister's video was taken down. "Who bears the ultimate responsibility for this?" the sources quoted the panel member as saying.
The US-headquartered social media giant had earlier attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, but the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) found the explanation "inadequate." The company had said the content was removed "in error" and was subsequently restored on the platform.
Another panel member was quoted as saying that in a democracy, if a video of the prime minister is not safe, then accountability needs to be fixed. Members also questioned the capabilities of the algorithms designed to check deepfakes of PM Modi.
According to sources, Meta officials expressed regret over the incident before the panel and stated they were ready to apologise. However, a BJP MP remarked that this isn't just about offering an apology, asserting that accountability must be fixed and legal action should be taken in the matter.
The committee, headed by BJP member Dubey, held the meeting to discuss the subject "Social and Digital platforms and their regulation." Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) S Krishnan, and representatives of social and digital media platforms, Snapchat, Google, X (formerly Twitter), Meta (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) and YouTube appeared before the committee.
(With inputs from PTI)
