Meta apologises for error that restricted Prime Minister’s video in India

The Story in Brief

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to the government after Facebook removed a video in which PM Modi reached out to student protesters, and for wider lapses on child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfakes and operational errors, government officials said. Meta blamed technical glitches for taking down the PM’s video. Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, said he apologised to minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on behalf of Meta, and officials said Zuckerberg’s apology was communicated through Kaplan. The apology followed a three-day ultimatum from a parliamentary standing committee led by Nishikant Dubey, which warned Meta it could lose safe‑harbour protections if it did not apologise.

During talks Meta accepted that it had taken money to boost some categories of content and acknowledged that paid promotion and algorithmic amplification had at times amplified illegal material, officials said. The company expressed regret, admitted mistakes and assured authorities corrective steps would be taken. Officials told Meta it could be excluded from intermediary protection if it actively selected recipients of content via algorithmic amplification or paid promotion, and asked for details of safeguards against CSAM, deepfakes and other harmful material. The government is studying international models on children’s online safety as part of a review of its policy and legal framework.

The Indian Opinion

The parliamentary ultimatum and public criticism reflect real concern about platform responsibility, but some accounts presented in strong terms risk implying conclusions not fully set out in the meeting summary. Meta accepted that paid promotion had amplified illegal material and blamed a technical glitch for the PM video removal, yet the precise scale of algorithmic targeting and the details of payments were not disclosed. An ordinary reader should note both the government’s regulatory warnings and Meta’s apology are important, but further factual detail is needed before judging whether the company’s conduct falls outside intermediary protections or requires specific legislative change.

Original article: Meta apologises for ‘error in restricting PM’s video’ (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

This story was summarised and commented on by AI from the source linked above.