An Indian parliamentary panel has called on Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to apologise for the temporary removal of July 23 video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Modi’s video, addressing students during youth-led protests on July 23, was briefly removed from Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram, but was later restored.
The panel, led by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, said the deletion of PM Modi’s video – who is the representative of 1.4 billion Indians – is an “attack on democracy”.
“If Facebook does not take action against those responsible in this matter, the Safe Harbour Clause will be removed. Mark Zuckerberg will have to apologize. Otherwise, a case may be filed,” it said.
The removal of the safe harbour clause gives the green light to file FIRs directly against social media platform officials. The central government will provide the green light, the committee warned.
Dubey said Meta has been “misusing” the “privilege” of safe harbour protection.
“We wrote to the Ministry of IT and the Ministry of Home Affairs stating that deleting the Prime Minister’s video was not the responsibility of an intermediary but that of a publisher. Therefore, Mark Zuckerberg must apologize within three days. If he fails to do so, we will revoke the “safe harbour” protection currently provided to social media platforms, a privilege that they have been misusing,” he said.
He added, “If FIRs are filed against the Meta chief by everyone affected by such content, there could be a nationwide flood of FIRs, and those responsible may face legal consequences.”
Meta quickly restored the post after receiving a major backlash.
While the company apologised for the “technical glitch” that led to the removal of PM’s video, the IT ministry maintained that Meta’s explanation was “not reasonable”. They added that if it was indeed a glitch, then Meta, being a technology company, must surely hasten to improve its own tools.