Mahua Moitra on Tuesday came out in support of Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg amid the controversy over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook reel.
The Trinamool Congress MP has asked him not to apologise under government pressure. She accused the Centre of intimidating citizens and seeking the removal of content critical of the government.
“Hello Mark, please do not get bullied & apologise to anyone,” she wrote on X.
“Indian govt blackmails & threatens citizens all the time, gets content critical of it removed at will. One video mistakenly removed for few hours didn't make heavens fall!” she further said.
She commented a day after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, as a Parliamentary panel chief, demanded that Zuckerberg apologise for the incident.
{{/usCountry}}She commented a day after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, as a Parliamentary panel chief, demanded that Zuckerberg apologise for the incident.
{{/usCountry}}He also said that Meta could lose its “safe harbour” protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act if he failed to do so.
What triggered the row?
The controversy comes from Meta's brief removal of a Facebook reel uploaded by Modi on July 23. The selfie video, which remained unavailable from around 12:30 am to 5 am, saw the PM address massive youth-led protests over the NEET paper leak for the first time.
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Following the incident, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology summoned representatives from Meta, Google, YouTube, X and Snapchat, along with officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), to explain the removal.
Dubey demands apology from Zuckerberg
After chairing the meeting, Dubey questioned Zuckerberg's “intention” and said the temporary removal of the Prime Minister's video was a serious matter, HT reported earlier.
“Meta's mindset is to destabilise the country… This is a very serious issue. Our committee has said two things - the apology must come from Mark Zuckerberg or else we will take back the safe harbour given to Meta under Section 79,” he told reporters.
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Under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, platforms like Meta get “safe harbour” protection, which protects them from being held liable for content posted by users, as long as they follow legal requirements and government directions.
‘Not the first time’
He also said the incident was “not the first time”, referring to Zuckerberg's January 2025 remarks in which the Meta CEO incorrectly suggested that incumbent governments, including India, had lost elections in 2024. Meta later apologised for those comments.
Dubey also alleged that Meta's algorithm gave more reach to unregistered groups than recognised political parties. He also raised concerns over child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, cyber fraud and the company's compliance with Indian laws.
ALSO READ | 'Zuckerberg should apologise for Modi reel removal or Meta will lose safe harbour', IT panel chief warns
Meta cites algorithmic error
According to MPs present at the meeting, Meta apologised and said the Prime Minister's reel was removed due to an algorithmic error.
“An executive of Meta apologised for taking down PM Modi's video from Facebook. He said there was some algorithm mistake. He also assured next time it won't be repeated and that Meta will amend their algorithm,” one MP said, HT reported earlier.
Meta team to meet govt on August 5-6
The government on Tuesday said it would raise concerns over Meta's handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), AI-generated content and the temporary removal of Modi's video when the company's global team visits India on August 5-6.
IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government wants to understand why these lapses occurred and what steps Meta was taking to prevent them.