New Delhi, Aug 5: Meta apologised for the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post as well as for failures ranging from child sexual abuse content to deepfakes and boosting certain content on being paid “a lot of money”, government sources said on Wednesday after executives of the US tech giant met Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
While Meta’s global affairs head Joel Kaplan, who flew in from the US for meetings with Indian officials, in a written statement said he “apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi’s post”, government sources, who refused to be identified, said the apology came from company chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
Government sources said Meta global officials have been asked to stay back for another round of questioning on Thursday, when IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will meet the company’s global executives once again. The meeting will also include executives from Meta’s technical team.
Kaplan, who served in the administration of George W Bush, including as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, before joining Meta (then Facebook) in 2011, was summoned by the Indian government to explain temporarily removing Modi’s July 23 Facebook post, in which he addressed students and promised stringent action against examination paper leaks.
He first met IT Secretary S Krishnan, followed by a meeting with Vaishnaw.
Government sources further said Vaishnaw asked Meta point-blank whether the company accepted payments to promote content that could trigger public disorder. The government then referred to Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, making it clear that non-compliance in discharging intermediary obligations jeopardises the company’s safe harbour protection (immunity as a platform).
After the meeting, sources said Meta executives admitted to failures involving child sexual abuse content and deepfakes and admitted that “a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content”.
Vaishnaw, it is learnt, also asked Meta if it is doing enough to prevent illegal content on their platform.
“They admitted that their systems are not fully geared up for so much of the content which is illegal…They admitted that they are not able to control all of it,” government sources said.
Neither Kaplan nor any other Meta official acknowledged the claims or offered any comments.
The temporary restriction of Modi’s post had snowballed into a major political controversy in the country, with the government summoning global executives of the firm that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and a parliamentary committee seeking an apology from Zuckerberg within three days.
Government sources said the Meta team apologised and expressed regret over the incident and over other content moderation failures. Company executives also admitted that “a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content”, they said, without elaborating.
The claim of money being paid pertained to child sexual abuse content.
Sources said the Centre told Meta that it could not claim the status of a neutral “intermediary” under India’s Information Technology Act because the company’s algorithms actively curate, recommend and determine which users receive content, rather than merely hosting third-party material.
On that basis, the government argued that Meta would not be entitled to the safe harbour protections available to intermediaries, which shield platforms from liability for user-generated content subject to compliance with the law.
The sources said the issue was conveyed to the company’s global leadership as part of the government’s broader push for greater platform accountability.
The government also questioned Meta over child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, safeguards for verified and prominent accounts, algorithmic bias and compliance with Indian law.
Meta admitted that a lot of illegal content was promoted, and paid promotions were carried out for specific audiences, government sources said, adding that Meta would be called again.
Meta was in the crosshairs of the government after temporarily restricting the Prime Minister’s July 23 Facebook post, in which he addressed Indian youth and promised stringent action against paper leaks.
Modi first posted the selfie video on Instagram. The video was later shared on Facebook, which was restricted by the social media platform.
Meta later restored the post, attributing its removal to an error by AI-powered automated content filters, and apologised.
Krishnan on Tuesday said that the government wanted to understand why Meta’s systems had failed and what challenges the company faced in addressing such issues, and that platforms needed a clearer understanding of India’s legal requirements and how they intended to ensure compliance.
The government had rejected the explanation as inadequate, saying the issue involved not only technical shortcomings but also national security and public order.
Meta had separately come under regulatory scrutiny after receiving a government notice last month over alleged child sexual abuse material in paid advertisements on Instagram.
Also, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Wednesday sought an apology from Zuckerberg over the removal of Modi’s Facebook post, warning in a letter that protection and immunity available to him could be withdrawn if no apology was forthcoming within three days. (PTI)
