India demands public apology from Zuckerberg over Modi video removal

The committee has also issued letters to relevant central government ministries, urging them to take necessary action against the social media giant.

On July 23, a vertical video addressed to students by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was temporarily removed from Meta-owned platforms Facebook and Instagram before being restored later. Meta attributed the incident to a technical glitch.

Speaking on Wednesday (August 5), Nishikant Dubey, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, said that deleting a Prime Minister's video exceeds the role of an intermediary and reflects the actions of a publisher.

He demanded that Mark Zuckerberg issue a public apology for the incident within three days.

Meanwhile, Joel Kaplan, Meta's Chief Global Policy Officer, stated that he met with India's Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Wednesday and expressed regret on behalf of the company.

"In a statement, Kaplan said he personally apologized to the minister for the restriction placed on Prime Minister Modi's post."

While Indian parliamentary standing committees have the authority to review government policies and summon officials or representatives of organizations for questioning, they do not possess direct powers to impose penalties or initiate legal actions.

Nishikant Dubey informed that the committee has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Information Technology to take appropriate measures. He added that if Zuckerberg fails to apologize, the 'safe harbor' legal protection granted to Meta's social media platforms in India should be revoked.

The video published on July 23 showed Prime Minister Modi assuring students of strict legislation and harsher penalties regarding examination paper leaks.