The government has summoned Meta’s head of public policy following the restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post on July 23, which addressed India’s youth and pledged strict actions against exam paper leaks.
During a conversation with reporters at the CII conference on semiconductors, Electronics and IT Secretary S. Krishnan noted that the government has requested Meta’s highest-level representatives to clarify the circumstances surrounding this glitch.
”They will come to explain the situation. We aim to achieve a comprehensive policy and technical understanding of the issues, as well as adapt to the unique concerns of India in this regard. We have several issues to discuss with them upon their visit, and we expect them to come within the next week,” he mentioned.
Meta, which owns Facebook, is reported to have communicated with the government regarding the new, rigorous content safeguards that have been implemented for posts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other key accounts.
While Meta attributed the situation to a technical malfunction and issued an apology, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) found their explanation to be ”insufficient.”
Meta has informed the ministry that content from the Prime Minister and certain influential accounts will now undergo additional scrutiny on the platform, involving multiple levels of review by senior company officials, sources revealed.
Meta informs Centre of enhanced oversight for PM’s posts and other significant accounts after glitch
According to sources, any decisions will now require thorough checks and approval from at least two senior officials within the company, as per Meta’s recent communication with the ministry.
Meta has expressed regret for the incident and has provided details regarding the factors that contributed to it, along with the corrective measures taken since, sources indicated.
Krishnan mentioned that Meta must explain the reasons behind the incident.
”They have also shared their understanding of why it occurred. Furthermore, they stated that by July 28, new protocols would be in place for the accounts of prominent individuals to prevent a recurrence of this issue,” he stated.
PM Modi’s Instagram post dated July 23, which was subsequently shared on Facebook, was his first direct selfie video aimed at connecting with youth and emphasizing the government’s commitment to combating exam paper leaks amid protests by students organized by the Cockroach Janta Party. The Facebook version of this post was briefly restricted by Meta before being reinstated.
Following the incident, the global head of public policy for Meta (Facebook and Instagram) was summoned by MeitY.
