Govt calls Meta executives again over temporary restriction of PM Modi’s Facebook video

The Central government has summoned senior executives of Meta for a second time after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post was briefly restricted on the platform. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is seeking a detailed explanation from the company, covering both the policy decisions and the technical reasons that led to the incident. Also Read: Meta to introduce enhanced review process after PM Modi video removal

The latest development comes days after the ministry had called Meta’s public policy leadership over the temporary removal of the Prime Minister’s July 23 Facebook post. Also Read: New York wants Instagram and TikTok to verify users' age; Here's why

Government wants answers from Meta

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference on semiconductors, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said the government has asked Meta to appear at the highest level and explain what exactly happened. Also Read: X receives Delhi Police notices over alleged abusive posts against PM Modi during student protests

“We have asked Meta to come in at the highest level and explain what the situation is. We want to have both a policy-level and a technical understanding of the issues, and an adaptation to the kinds of concerns India has in this regard. There are several issues we have, which we will raise with them when they come. I think, within the next week, they will be coming,” Krishnan said.

The secretary did not specify which Meta executives have been asked to appear before the ministry.

PM Modi’s Facebook post was briefly restricted

The issue began after Prime Minister Modi’s Facebook post, which was originally uploaded on Instagram and later shared on Facebook, became temporarily unavailable on the platform. The July 23 post included the Prime Minister’s first public address on the nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, where he assured students and their families that strict action would be taken against those responsible.

The post was later restored. According to Reuters, the video has since crossed 404 million views on Instagram.

Soon after the incident, Meta acknowledged that the content had been removed due to an error.

“The content was removed in error and has since been restored,” a Meta spokesperson had said.

Meta introduces additional safeguards

Although Meta apologised and attributed the incident to a technical glitch, the government reportedly considered the company’s initial explanation inadequate.

According to sources, Meta has now written to MeitY outlining the additional safeguards it has introduced for content posted by Prime Minister Modi and other prominent public accounts.

The company has reportedly informed the ministry that posts from these accounts will now go through enhanced oversight before any moderation action is taken. Any decision involving such accounts will require multiple levels of review and approval from at least two senior company officials before action is taken, sources said.

The government is expected to review these new measures when Meta executives meet ministry officials.

Second meeting in a matter of days

This is the second time in recent days that MeitY has called Meta over the issue. The ministry had earlier summoned the company’s global public policy leadership following the temporary restriction of the Prime Minister’s Facebook post.

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The latest meeting is expected to focus not only on what caused the incident but also on the steps Meta has taken to ensure that similar issues do not occur again. According to Reuters, the episode also comes at a time when the Indian government continues to closely scrutinise how global technology companies handle content moderation and platform governance involving public officials.