New Delhi: The Parliamentary Committee on Communications and Information Technology has reportedly given Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a three-day deadline to apologise for the brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 23 video from Facebook and initiate action against those responsible. The committee, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, described the incident as an “attack on democracy” and warned that failure to comply could lead to the Government of India considering the revocation of Facebook’s Safe Harbor protection.
The controversy relates to the temporary removal of a video featuring Prime Minister Modi, which was first uploaded on Instagram before being shared on Facebook. The incident triggered political criticism and prompted the parliamentary panel to seek an explanation from Meta.
Committee issues ultimatum
The Parliamentary Committee on Communications and Information Technology has reportedly directed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue an apology within three days over the removal of the Prime Minister’s video.
According to sources, the committee stated that deleting the video of the elected leader of India amounted to an attack on democratic values and the representative of 1.4 billion Indians.
The panel further warned that if Meta fails to respond within the stipulated period, the Government of India may consider withdrawing Facebook’s Safe Harbor protection.
Safe Harbor protection under scrutiny
If Safe Harbor protection is revoked, social media platform officials could lose legal immunity available under intermediary protection provisions, potentially allowing law enforcement agencies to register FIRs directly against company officials, according to the committee’s warning.
The issue has intensified scrutiny over how global social media platforms moderate content posted by political leaders and public representatives.
PM Modi’s video briefly removed
The controversy began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s selfie-style video, posted on July 23, was briefly removed from Facebook after initially appearing on Instagram.
In the video, the Prime Minister had assured strict action against paper leaks amid protests by students led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The Facebook version of the video was temporarily restricted before being restored following criticism from BJP leaders and several users on social media.
Meta cites technical glitch
Earlier this week, the parliamentary committee summoned Meta officials to explain the incident.
Meta apologised for the temporary removal, stating that it occurred due to a technical glitch.
However, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology rejected the explanation as “not reasonable”, stating that if the incident resulted from a technical error, the company should strengthen its technological systems to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The temporary disappearance of the video was quickly noticed by BJP leaders and online commentators, who demanded an explanation from the social media company.
Panel directs platforms to remove objectionable content
Apart from the PM Modi video controversy, the parliamentary committee has also directed major digital platforms to remove Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and objectionable content targeting women within three days.
The directive applies to platforms including Google, YouTube, X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat.
The committee warned that strict action could be initiated against platforms that fail to comply with the directive.
FIRs registered in Telangana
Separately, Telangana Police have registered FIRs against Google and Meta in unrelated cases.
Google has been accused of hosting fraudulent financial applications, while Meta has been booked over the circulation of a fake video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
These developments come amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of global technology companies operating in India and growing emphasis on platform accountability.
Conclusion
The parliamentary panel’s latest directions highlight the government’s continued focus on content moderation, intermediary accountability and digital platform regulation. The response from Meta and any subsequent action by the government regarding Safe Harbor protection are likely to be closely watched in the coming days.