Centre Summons Meta's Global Team Over PM Modi Post Restriction

The Central government has summoned Meta’s global leadership for a two-day meeting on August 5-6 to discuss concerns over the company’s content moderation policy, including the temporary restriction of a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms.

The meetings will also focus on AI-generated content, restrictions on verified accounts and the effectiveness of Meta's safeguards for user safety, said S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

PM Modi Post Among Key Issues

This development came days after a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was removed from Facebook briefly. The video was on action against examination paper leaks, and Meta attributed the incident to a technical error.

"Meta executives are expected to meet govt representatives on 5th and 6th August. Issues related to India's law, compliance issues, synthetically generated information, safeguards on content take downs related to prominent personalities are expected to be taken up," ANI quoted MeitY Secretary saying.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Instagram post on July 23, later shared on Facebook, had featured his first direct selfie video aimed at engaging with young people and underscoring the government's commitment to crack down on paper leaks, but was subsequently restricted by Meta on Facebook.

CSAM, AI Content To Be Discussed

Speaking to reporters, Krishnan said, "We want to ensure that compliance happens. There are a range of issues. For instance, the CSAM issue has been raised, and we want to know what measures have been taken to address it. We also want to understand to what extent synthetically generated content is being monitored. Further, when verified accounts of prominent personalities have their content taken down, there need to be appropriate safeguards."

Krishnan also said that they would be talking about the WhatsApp username issue and privacy concerns.

"It's not just the WhatsApp username issue; it is the username issue across all kinds of messaging apps. There are two dimensions to this. One is the possibility of impersonation that it creates. Another is the privacy aspect, as many people believe they would like to preserve their privacy under certain circumstances. So we have to see how best we can balance both those concerns," he said.

Government Seeks Greater Accountability

Krishnan said that the IT Ministry has issued notices, which comprises of legal steps.

"I can't speak for anything which transpired in the Parliamentary Standing Committee. As far as the IT Ministry is concerned, we have already issued our notices and that is a legal step. I think there is a legal action process which is ongoing," he said.

BJP worker Priti Gandhi also demanded explanation, accusing Meta of political bias.

Over the last few weeks, Meta has faced regulatory scrutiny on a number of issues.

The IT ministry issued a notice to WhatsApp earlier, questioning the Meta-owned platform's proposed username feature, as the government flagged concerns that it could materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks. The Centre had also directed WhatsApp not to launch the feature until consultations on the issue are completed "to the satisfaction of the government".