Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan on Wednesday apologised to Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s social media post was mistakenly restricted. Kaplan, who travelled from the US to meet Indian officials, said he conveyed the apology on behalf of the company during his meeting with the minister.
“I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi’s post,” PTI reported Kaplan as saying in a written statement. The apology came after the government summoned Meta’s senior leadership to explain why the Prime Minister’s July 23 Facebook post had been briefly restricted.
Meta says the restriction was a mistake
The controversy began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a video on July 23, addressing students and promising strict action against examination paper leaks. Though the video remained available on Instagram, the Facebook version was briefly restricted before being restored.
Meta said the removal happened because of an error in its AI-powered automated content filters. The company later restored the post and maintained that the restriction was unintentional. The government, however, found Meta’s initial explanation inadequate and sought a detailed explanation from the company.
Government raises concerns over platform accountability
After meeting Kaplan, government sources told PTI that Meta apologised not only for the removal of the Prime Minister’s post but also for issues related to child sexual abuse content, deepfakes and content moderation.
According to the report, Meta executives admitted that “a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content” and acknowledged failures involving illegal content. Neither Kaplan nor any other Meta official publicly commented on these claims.
The government also questioned Meta over safeguards for verified accounts, algorithmic bias, compliance with Indian law and the handling of child sexual abuse material and deepfakes.
According to PTI, government sources said the Centre argued that Meta cannot claim to be a neutral intermediary under the Information Technology Act because its algorithms actively curate and recommend content. On that basis, the government maintained that the company should not automatically receive the safe harbour protections available to intermediaries.
Parliamentary panel also seeks Zuckerberg’s apology
Government sources said the apology conveyed by Kaplan came from Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. Separately, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Wednesday sought an apology from Zuckerberg over the removal of the Prime Minister’s Facebook post. In a letter, the committee warned that the protection and immunity available to him could be withdrawn if no apology was received within three days.
India remains Meta’s largest market, with hundreds of millions of users across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The government has indicated that Meta will be called again as it continues to examine the company’s content moderation practices and compliance with law.