Meta admitted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first selfie video on Facebook was taken down briefly due to an error.
A Meta spokesperson said the content was removed in error and has since been restored.
The video contained Modi’s message on stricter action against paper leaks and the planned anti-leak Bill.
Meta on Tuesday stated that a video posted on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook account was removed “in error” and has since been restored. The Meta-owned platform had briefly restricted access to the video during the early hours of 28 July. The video is now available again for users in India.
At around 1:25 am on Tuesday, users who clicked the “See Why” option on the video saw a notice stating that the content had been restricted in India in compliance with a legal request. The notice did not specify the legal provision or the authority behind the request. Meta later clarified that the restriction was not intentional.
The video was originally posted on 23 July at around 11:52 pm. It was Prime Minister Modi’s first direct address to Gen Z during the student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over irregularities related to the NEET-UG examination. In the selfie-style message, recorded on a phone’s front camera, Modi addressed viewers as “Friends”.
He said: “I know that paper leak is not an ordinary issue. It is very painful for lakh of students and their guardians.” He noted that several steps had been taken over the past two and a half months, that the guilty had been caught and were in jail, and that the government’s priority had been to ensure students did not lose an academic year. Examinations for around 22 lakh students had been organised quickly and results declared on 19 July.
On further measures, Modi said he had directed departments to establish fast-track courts. A resolution providing for fast-track courts and harsh punishment had been presented late at night and would be discussed in the Cabinet the next day. After Cabinet suggestions it would be finalised, and efforts would be made to get the Bill passed in Parliament as soon as possible during the second week of the session.
The video had garnered millions of views before the temporary restriction. Reports indicated that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had summoned Meta’s global head of public policy in connection with the incident.
