Meta on Monday told a parliamentary panel that it is ready to apologise for the brief restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, while members across the committee pressed the company on accountability, alleged algorithmic bias and compliance with Indian laws.
The issue came up during a meeting of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, where Meta officials appeared before lawmakers.
According to sources, members questioned why Meta, despite earning significant revenue from India, failed to adhere to the country's laws. They also raised concerns over the platform's content moderation practices, alleging that objectionable content, including pornography, remains accessible while "genuine" content gets removed.
"When Facebook has not removed a lot of other objectionable content, who removed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video from the platform?" a member asked Meta representatives.
"Who bears the ultimate responsibility for this?" the sources quoted the panel member as saying.
The discussion comes days after the Centre summoned Meta's top executives over the temporary restriction on Modi's Facebook post addressing India's youth and promising stringent action against paper leaks.
While the US-based social media company had attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) termed the explanation "inadequate".
Meta had said the content was removed "in error" and was later restored.
"In a democracy, if a video of the prime minister is not safe, then accountability needs to be fixed," another panel member was quoted as saying during the meeting.
Members also questioned the effectiveness of Meta's algorithms in detecting deepfakes involving the prime minister.
According to sources, Meta officials expressed regret over the incident before the committee and said they were ready to apologise.
However, a BJP MP insisted that an apology alone was insufficient. "This isn't just about offering an apology. Accountability must be fixed and legal action should be taken in this matter," the member asserted.
The meeting was chaired by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan, and representatives of Meta, Google, X, Snapchat and YouTube also attended the discussion.
(With inputs from PTI)
