- By Shubham Bajpai
- Tue, 04 Aug 2026 03:47 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
- Central government summons Meta executives for August 5-6 meeting.
- Meeting to discuss content takedowns, compliance, synthetic content.
- Incident follows brief removal of PM Modi's video by Facebook.
The Central government has summoned Meta executives to New Delhi to discuss legal and compliance issues, synthetically generated content and safeguards for content takedowns involving prominent personalities. The meeting is likely to take place on August 5 and 6, according to S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
"Meta executives are expected to meet govt representatives on 5th and 6th August. Issues related to India's law, compliance issues, synthetically generated information, safeguards on content take downs related to prominent personalities are expected to be taken up," the MeitY Secretary said.
The development comes days after a Facebook, a Meta platform briefly removed a Prime Minister Narendra Modi' video on action against examination paper leaks. The social media platform had briefly restricted the video's access in the early hours of July 28.
Mahua Moitra asks Zuckerberg to not apologise
The removal of PM's video also sparked a political slugfest in India as Opposition questioned the Centre for a swift action on the incident while several similar incidents involving other leaders and social media personalities go unheeded.
After Centre's summon, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra came out in support of Meta, asking the tech giant chief Mark Zuckerberg to not apologise under government pressure.
ALSO READ: PM Modi Facebook Video Row: BJP MPs Tell Meta ‘Apology Alone Is Not Enough’, Seek Accountability
Taking to X, the Krishnanagar MP said, "Hello Mark, please do not get bullied & apologise to anyone".
"Indian govt blackmails & threatens citizens all the time, gets content critical of it removed at will. One video mistakenly removed for few hours didn't make heavens fall!" she further said.
Earlier on Monday, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, as a chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communication and Information Technology, demanded that Zuckerberg apologise for the incident.
Dubey also cautioned that Meta could lose its "safe harbour" protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act if he failed to do so.
Centre asked Meta to send senior-most representatives
Notably, the Centre asked Meta to send its senior-most representatives to explain the circumstances surrounding the issue. the government also expected Meta to provide clarity at both policy and technical levels.
On the Centre's action, Meta responded by expressing regret and shared its understanding of the reasons behind it. Meta had attributed the incident to a technical error.
"The content was removed in error and has since been restored," a Meta spokesperson had said in a statement.
"Meta has written to government expressing regret over the incident and that it had happened. They have also given us the reasons, their understanding of the reason why it happened and they have also indicated that as of 28th of July, they have established new protocols relating to accounts of prominent persons to avoid such a situation from recurring," the Secretary said.
(With PTI Inputs)