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Government Demands High-Level Explanation
India has summoned senior executives of US tech giant Meta to explain why a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefly restricted last week, with the government deeming the company’s initial explanation “inadequate” .
“We have asked Meta to come in at the highest level and explain what is happening,” said S. Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), on Thursday . Krishnan did not specify which executives were requested but noted the government wants both a “policy-level and technical understanding of the issues” .
The meeting is expected to take place within the next week, with the government planning to raise several concerns regarding platform governance and content moderation .
Meta Introduces New Protocols for Prominent Accounts
Meta has informed Indian authorities that it has established new protocols concerning accounts belonging to prominent public figures to prevent a similar incident from recurring . These safeguards, implemented on July 28, will see posts from the Prime Minister and other high-profile accounts subject to additional oversight, including multiple layers of review requiring approval from at least two senior officials .
The company has expressed regret over the incident and shared its understanding of why it happened , but the Ministry has reportedly found Meta’s explanation “not reasonable” .
The Incident and Viewership Record
The controversy erupted after PM Modi’s July 23 Instagram video — his first direct address to students amid nationwide protests over exam paper leaks that led to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation — was temporarily restricted on Facebook before being restored . Meta attributed the removal to a technical error in its automated content filters .
Despite the brief restriction on Facebook, the video has since garnered over 404 million views on Instagram, what the government described as a global record .
