NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology on Monday rejected Meta’s explanation for temporarily removing a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for a personal apology from the company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
Committee chairperson Nishikant Dubey said the incident reflected either a serious failure in Meta’s content moderation systems or a deliberate attempt to damage the Prime Minister’s image.
“If this is how they deal with the official post of the Prime Minister, what can ordinary citizens expect? This cannot be dismissed as a mere technical error. A personal apology should come from Mark Zuckerberg. If he does not apologise, the government’s safe harbour protection for the company should be reconsidered,” Dubey said.
Senior representatives of Meta, X, Google and YouTube appeared before the committee, along with Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan and IT Secretary S. Krishnan.
According to Dubey, lawmakers questioned digital platforms over their content moderation policies, algorithmic transparency and handling of unlawful content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake investment scams and online harassment of women. Meta drew particular criticism during the meeting.
While some Opposition members argued that social media platforms must continue to allow space for dissent and that criticism of the government should not be equated with anti-national activity, the committee was unanimous in demanding quicker and more effective action against content that violates platform policies, especially CSAM, cyber fraud and abuse targeting women.
“We are unanimous and non-partisan on these issues,” Dubey said, adding that even communications from the Union home ministry were sometimes not acted upon promptly by social media companies.
The BJP MP also questioned how platform algorithms determine the reach of online content. Referring to the recent protests by CJP, he said the organisation’s online viewership had exceeded the combined reach of several major political parties, including the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Samajwadi Party, and alleged that social media algorithms tend to favour newer entrants.
Some committee members also sought accountability from Meta over the temporary removal of the Prime Minister’s video, which was later restored across the company’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Dubey further argued that the ability of social media platforms to amplify, suppress or remove content—and in some cases attach community notes—raises questions about whether they function solely as intermediaries or exercise editorial responsibilities similar to publishers.
He also highlighted the growing scale of cybercrime, stating that around 28.15 lakh cybercrime complaints were reported across the country in 2025, with estimated financial losses of nearly ₹22,495 crore.
