Days after Meta briefly removed a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to the government on Wednesday, according to sources.
Sources in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said Zuckerberg apologised over issues related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and alleged errors in the platform's operations, including what the government described as algorithmic bias.
They also claimed that Meta admitted that "a lot of money was paid for boosting certain types of content".
"Mark Zuckerberg sent his apologies for the CSAM content, deepfake content and errors in operating the platform. They admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting certain types of content. They apologised and regretted the mistake," MeitY sources said.
Earlier in the day, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan and members of his team met MeitY Secretary S Krishnan for more than 45 minutes. The delegation later met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. According to government sources, Zuckerberg's apology followed these meetings.
Meta-owned platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, have come under government scrutiny over allegations of algorithmic bias and the promotion of anti-government content, particularly on Instagram.
According to government sources, the platform promoted one-sided content during recent student protests. The government subsequently asked Meta to remove content it considered objectionable, including abusive posts targeting the government.
Another issue raised by the government was the alleged presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Instagram, following which MeitY officials sought an explanation from Meta executives.
The move followed a BBC report which found that Instagram displayed paid advertisements containing terms such as "rape video" and "child video". According to the report, the advertisements redirected users to Telegram channels where child sexual abuse material was allegedly being sold for as little as ₹99.
The controversy escalated after Facebook briefly removed a video posted by PM Modi on action against examination paper leaks during student protests. Meta said on July 28 that the video had been removed due to a technical error and was restored shortly afterwards. While the US-headquartered social media company attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, MeitY described the explanation as "inadequate".
The incident prompted the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, to summon Meta officials. The panel reportedly gave Zuckerberg three days to issue an apology, describing the removal of the Prime Minister's post as "extremely serious". It also said Meta's safe harbour protection could face scrutiny over compliance concerns.
"It was made clear to them that they are not covered under the intermediary definition. They select who receives the content. Safe harbour under the IT Act is not applicable," government sources said.
Notably, Modi's July 23 Instagram post, which was later shared on Facebook, marked his first selfie video aimed at engaging with young people and highlighting the government's commitment to crack down on paper leaks amid student protests. The Facebook version of the post was briefly restricted before being restored.
The IT Ministry maintained that Meta's explanation, citing a technical glitch in its automated content filters, was "not reasonable". Officials had said that if an automated system glitch caused the error, Meta, as a technology company, should improve its own tools without delay.
Meta officials had attributed the error to AI-powered automated content filters reviewing shared posts and subsequent videos that circulated after the Prime Minister's original post. They told the government that its automated filters had inadvertently removed the original post itself.
