Removing the selfie video uploaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, even though for a brief period, could prove costly for Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. A parliamentary committee has asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologise within three days or face action.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT), which deliberated on August 3 on the matter of Meta’s removal of Modi’s first selfie video address to students and Gen Z about the NEET paper leak controversy, has given Zuckerberg a three-day ultimatum to apologise to the government. According to The Indian Express, the Lok Sabha secretariat has told the government that the protection Meta platforms enjoy under the IT Act may be withdrawn and Zuckerberg may face action if he does not apologise.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey leads the committee. Meta had earlier said the removal of the PM’s video was due to a glitch in its automated content filters.
“The removal of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s video addressing students and Gen Z regarding examination controversies and strict actions against paper leaks from Facebook for 5-6 hours (was) viewed very seriously by the Committee. During the deliberations, the Committee demanded an apology from Mr Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Chief, on this issue,” said a letter from A Jyothirmayi, director of the Lok Sabha, to S Krishnan, secretary of the Ministry of Electronics & IT, accessed by The Indian Express.
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Referring to the action being mulled, the letter says, “If he fails to tender an unqualified apology within 3 days of receipt of this letter, the protection/immunity given under Section 79(3) of IT Act may be withdrawn and action taken against him as a Publisher”. Section 79(3) of the Act contains exceptions in which online platforms lose legal immunity for third-party content.
The August 3 meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee was attended by representatives of the ministries of Home Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, and social media platforms, including Meta.
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Dubey, a BJP MP from Godda in Jharkhand, said the mindset behind the removal of the PM’s video was “to destabilise the country”. “When video of the Prime Minister of India can be removed, and they themselves accepted that it was unavailable for five hours between 12:30 am and 5 am… this is a very serious thing and our committee has said two things clearly — that this apology should come from Zuckerberg himself.”
Rebuking social media platforms for their algorithms, Dubey said that it is a policy of these platforms to give traction to new entities rather than older ones.
