Meta has apologised for the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook posts as well as over other issues involving child sexual abuse content and deepfakes.Simultaneously, the government put Meta on notice that it could lose the legal safe harbour protections available to online intermediaries, arguing that the social media giant cannot claim to be a “neutral” platform when its algorithms actively curate, recommend and determine which users receive what content.Senior executives of American tech behemoth met with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and IT Secretary S Krishnan on Wednesday. Meta’s Global Affairs Head Joel Kaplan said in a written statement, “I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for error restricting PM Modi’s post.”Deepfake contentGovernment sources said that Meta Chief Mark Zuckerberg has conveyed his apologies over issues concerning CSAM and deepfake content and errors in platform operations.Under the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, social media platforms enjoy “safe harbour” protection from liability for third-party content, provided they function as neutral intermediaries and comply with due diligence obligations prescribed under the law. Government sources, however, said Meta’s algorithm-driven curation and recommendation of content meant it could no longer claim to be merely an intermediary and would therefore not be entitled to such legal protection.Sources said the Centre made it clear to Meta that it could not claim the status of a “neutral” intermediary as its platform algorithms actively curate, recommend and determine which users receive what content. On that basis, the government argued that Meta would not be entitled to the safe harbour protections available to intermediaries. Sources also said Meta officials admitted to failures in checking child sexual abuse content and deepfakes, and acknowledged that “a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content”, expressing regret over the lapse.Paid promotionsMeta also admitted that a significant amount of illegal content was promoted and that paid promotions were carried out for specific audiences, government sources said, adding that the company has been told it will be summoned again for further discussions.Kaplan was summoned by the government to explain the temporary removal of Prime Minister Modi’s July 23 Facebook post, in which he addressed students and promised stringent action against examination paper leaks. Meta later restored the post, attributing its removal to an error by AI-powered automated content filters, and apologised.Meawhile, 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.Published on August 5, 2026