The tech giant blamed a technical glitch for the removal, while the Centre is examining the incident and may seek an explanation from company officials.
| Photo Credit:
REUTERS/Daniel Cole
Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta on Tuesday has apologised to the government after a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefly blocked on Facebook in India, with the company saying the removal was due to a technical glitch.“The content was removed in error and has since been restored,” a Meta spokesperson said.Sources in the government said the Center was treating the incident seriously and was examining both Meta’s explanation and the circumstances that led to the video’s removal. Meta representatives and concerned officials may be summoned to provide an explanation on this particular matter too, the sources added.Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology and Communications has also summoned representatives of major social media platforms, including Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Snapchat, X (Twitter) and Google on August 3 to discuss other issues.BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who chairs the Committee said the panel has called representatives of these companies to explain how they protect the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural residents, labourers and the general public, and ensure public order.“Our Parliamentary Committee on IT and Communication has summoned Meta (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp), X (Twitter), Snapchat, and Google. How will the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural folks, laborers, and the general public be protected? How do these companies ensure the government’s public order?,” Dubey said via a post on X.According to the notice issued, the agenda includes a “briefing by the representatives of (i) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); (ii) Ministry of Home Affairs; and (iii) Social and Digital Media Platforms -- Snapchat, Google, X (formerly Twitter), Meta (Facebook and Instagram) on the subject ‘Social and digital platforms and their regulation’.”The meeting comes days after social media, particularly Instagram, was extensively used by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) to publicise and mobilise participants for its student protest at Jantar Mantar. The demonstrations, which were held over the NEET-UG paper leak and other issues, drew widespread attention online, with videos, reels and live updates from the protest sites being shared across social media platforms.The 36-day CJP-led agitation at the Jantar Mantar here ended on Saturday after the government accepted key demands of the protesters and Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as education minister.According to the government, several social media users, especially Instagram users also misused the platform with AI generated reels.Published on July 28, 2026
