Meta Apologizes to India Over Restricted PM Modi Post

Meta Platforms has apologized to India's information technology minister for an error that led to the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's social media post in July. Joel Kaplan, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer, conveyed the apology, stating that the post was blocked due to an operational mistake.

The incident prompted India's IT ministry to summon Meta executives last month. Meta explained that the restriction was inadvertent, stemming from an operational error. This apology comes amid a period of heightened tension between the social media giant and the Indian government concerning content moderation policies and the handling of posts related to the prime minister.

Separately, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly apologized to the Indian government regarding issues such as child sexual abuse material and deepfake content on the company's platforms. The Indian government had previously ordered Meta to remove advertisements and content promoting child sexual abuse material on Instagram. Meta has maintained a zero-tolerance policy on such material and is working to enhance its detection systems.

These events are part of a broader pattern of friction between Meta and the Modi administration. The prime minister has faced significant online criticism and scrutiny from protesters in recent weeks, particularly concerning leaked examination papers that led to the resignation of his education minister. Additionally, police in Hyderabad registered a case against Meta India's head over alleged "abusive" videos depicting Modi.

“

I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post.