Tech Giant Regrets 5-Hour Removal of PM Modi’s Video After Government Ultimatum
Social media behemoth Meta has found itself in deep waters, ultimately being forced to step back and tender a formal apology following a massive political storm over the suppression of a high-profile video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The controversy erupted after the Prime Minister’s official address addressing student concerns and stringent measures against exam paper leaks mysteriously vanished from Facebook for nearly five hours. Faced with intense government scrutiny, legislative threats, and a strict three-day parliamentary ultimatum to face penal consequences, top Meta executives flew down to New Delhi to offer an unreserved apology and defuse mounting regulatory tensions.
Meta Executives Express Regret to IT Minister
The escalation reached its peak when Joel Kaplan, Meta's Chief Global Officer, personally met with Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the capital to address the unprecedented takedown. During the high-stakes interaction, Kaplan explicitly stated on behalf of the corporation that a major mistake had been made in blocking the Prime Minister's post. Alongside the meeting with Minister Vaishnaw, Kaplan and his senior global delegation also held extensive discussions with IT Secretary S. Krishnan to clarify the internal moderation error that led to the five-hour blackout, which occurred between 12:30 AM and 5:30 AM during a sensitive political climate following massive student protests and the resignation of the former education minister.
Parliamentary Pressure and the Threat of Losing Statutory Immunity
The tech giant's swift climbdown followed a relentless pressure campaign led by the Indian legislature and parliamentary panels. Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and head of the Parliamentary Committee on IT, Nishikant Dubey, had issued a stern three-day ultimatum directed at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The parliamentary directive warned that failure to apologize and account for the unwarranted removal of the video would result in the revocation of the company's statutory immunity and safe-harbor exemptions in India. Such a withdrawal would have exposed Meta, along with its platforms like Facebook and Instagram, to direct criminal prosecutions, police FIRs, and heavy liability for content hosted on their servers.
