New Delhi: Meta — which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among others — has formally communicated to the central government to implement stricter monitoring mechanisms for content posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other high-profile accounts on its platforms, following a recent controversy involving a temporary restriction on his Facebook posting.
According to sources, the social media giant outlined in a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) that posts by the prime minister and prominent figures would now be subject to additional layers of scrutiny. This includes multiple checks by senior company officials to prevent similar incidents.
A meeting between Meta officials and government representatives is expected at the end of this week or at the beginning of next week to further discuss this issue.
The development comes days after Modi’s Instagram video — later shared on Facebook — addressing India’s youth and reiterating the central government’s resolve to tackle paper leaks amid student protests was summarily removed by Facebook on July 23.
The incident prompted swift action from the IT Ministry, which called in Meta’s global head of public policy.
IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday that while Meta had admitted the mistake and apologised, the ministry found the company’s explanation insufficient.
“It is good that they have apologized and admitted what they did was a mistake. But we are not satisfied with the explanation… It is not adequate and we are looking for more details,” Krishnan said.
Meta attributed the removal to a technical glitch in its automated AI-powered content filters, which reportedly mislabeled the Prime Minister’s original post while reviewing related content.
The company claimed that the post was restored immediately after the error was identified. A Meta spokesperson described the removal as a “mistake”.
However, ministry sources described the explanation of Meta’s technical defect as “unreasonable”, stressing that the issue was unresolved.
They pointed out that as a leading technology company, Meta needs to improve its automated systems to avoid future disruptions, especially for verified public figures and official communications.
