Meta to explain PM Modi post removal at highest level, expresses regret over incident: IT Secretary S Krishnan

The Centre has asked Meta's senior leadership to explain the brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post on strict action against paper leaks, with the company agreeing to provide both policy and technical clarifications while introducing new safeguards for high-profile accounts.

Speaking on Thursday, IT Secretary S. Krishnan said the government had sought a detailed explanation from Meta after finding the company's initial response inadequate.

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"We have asked Meta to come in at the highest level and explain what is happening and why the kind of issues that we see. They have agreed to come; they will be coming and explaining what the situation is. We want to have both a policy-level understanding and a technical understanding of the issues, and also an adaptation to the kind of concerns that India has in this regard..."

"Meta has written to the government expressing regret over the incident and that it had happened. They've also given us the reasons why it happened, and they've 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."

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Krishnan's remarks come days after Meta briefly restricted a Facebook post by the Prime Minister in which he promised stringent action against examination paper leaks and announced legislation to tackle the issue.

The post, originally uploaded on Instagram on July 23 and later shared on Facebook, featured Modi's first direct selfie video addressing India's youth. The incident occurred as Parliament debated the anti-paper leak legislation, which was later passed by the Lok Sabha.

Meta subsequently restored the post, apologised to the government and attributed the removal to a technical error in its AI-powered automated content moderation systems.

According to government sources, the company told officials that its automated filters were reviewing shared versions of the Prime Minister's post circulating on Facebook when the original post was inadvertently restricted.

The company has admitted the removal was a mistake, expressed regret over the incident and outlined the reasons behind the error. It has also informed the government that it has put in place new protocols for accounts belonging to prominent individuals to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Despite the apology, the Centre has maintained that the matter is not closed.