An Indian parliamentary panel has called on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologise over the temporary removal of a video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Facebook and Instagram.
The video, posted on July 23, showed Modi addressing students during youth-led protests. It was briefly removed from Meta’s platforms before being restored.
The parliamentary committee, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Nishikant Dubey, described the removal of the Prime Minister’s video as an “attack on democracy.”
“If Facebook does not take action against those responsible in this matter, the Safe Harbour Clause will be removed. Mark Zuckerberg will have to apologise. Otherwise, a case may be filed,” the panel said.
The committee warned that revoking Meta’s safe harbour protection could expose the company and its officials to direct legal action, including the filing of First Information Reports (FIRs), subject to government approval.
Dubey accused Meta of abusing the legal protections afforded to online intermediaries.
“We wrote to the Ministry of IT and the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that deleting the Prime Minister’s video was not the responsibility of an intermediary but that of a publisher. Therefore, Mark Zuckerberg must apologise within three days. If he fails to do so, we will revoke the ‘safe harbour’ protection currently provided to social media platforms, a privilege that they have been misusing,” he said.
He further warned that if affected individuals began filing complaints against the company, Meta could face a wave of legal cases across the country.
Following public backlash, Meta restored the video and attributed its removal to a technical error.
The company apologised for what it described as a “technical glitch,” but India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology rejected the explanation, saying it was “not reasonable.”
The ministry added that if the incident was indeed caused by a technical glitch, Meta should take urgent steps to improve its systems to prevent similar occurrences in the future.