New Delhi:
Facebook’s parent Meta’s apology for removing a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be enough until accountability for the lapse is properly traced and legal action is taken, people with direct knowledge of the matter have said, citing a meeting called by the parliamentary panel on IT headed by Nishikant Dubey.
Meta officials also faced tough questions on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms.
“Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg must apologise for deleting the video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Dubey said.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT today met representatives of social media giants including Google, Meta and YouTube and top officials from the Union Home Ministry and MeitY to discuss social media regulation.
During the meeting, a senior BJP MP asked Meta who would take responsibility for removing the prime minister’s video, people familiar with the matter said.
In the video, PM Modi had addressed young people and promised a severe crackdown to stop exam paper leaks.
Sources said the BJP MP asked several questions to Meta, after which the company owned by Mark Zuckerberg offered to apologise and also “expressed regret”.
“Why was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video removed? Who is responsible for this? Who removed the video from the platform at a time when Facebook had not removed a great deal of other objectionable content? Who bears the ultimate responsibility for this?” the BJP MP said, according to government sources, asking not to be identified.
After Meta responded, the MP pointed out the issue was not merely about an apology, but that accountability must be established and legal action should be taken, sources said.
Sources said the MP questioned Meta what protection was available to common social media users in India if the prime minister’s video can be removed just like that.
In February 2024, Zuckerberg had apologised to families at a US Senate hearing about the impact that social media had on children. Under prodding from a Republican senator, Zuckerberg stood up and addressed families who held up pictures of their children who they said had been harmed by social media.
He was also shown a video in which children spoke about being bullied on social media platforms. Some recounted stories of young people taking their own lives after being extorted for money after sharing photos with sexual predators.
MeitY had last week summoned Meta’s global team on issues linked to algorithmic bias, the platform’s algorithmic processes and their role in public order. Meta attributed the video matter to a technical glitch, but MeitY found the explanation “inadequate”, sources said.
The Hyderabad cyber crime police have filed cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and some accounts on Facebook and Instagram over allegedly morphed and AI posts targeting PM Modi.
