After Row Over PM Modi's Video, Meta Writes To Centre, Outlines Safeguards

The Meta team has assured the government on safeguards for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's posts, sources said days after a video posted from his account was briefly blocked on Facebook. Outlining the enhanced safeguards for PM Modi's posts, Meta has said that prominent accounts to get additional oversight. Going forward, only senior Meta officials will vet such posts, sources said.

Any decision will undergo rigorous checks and review by at least two senior officials of the company, sources said, citing the platform's latest communication to the ministry.

Sources also said the Meta team will meet the government later this week where other key issues including content regulation will also be discussed. 

The video that was briefly blocked contained PM Modi's message to Gen Z promising stringent measures against paper leaks  that was uploaded on July 23 amid the student protest spearheaded by the Cockroach Janta Party or CJP. 

As Meta attributed the matter to a technical glitch, the government summoned Meta and Instagram's global heads earlier this week.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has made it clear that it does not consider the company's explanation sufficient.

On Tuesday, IT Secretary S Krishnan said, "It is good that they have apologised and admitted what they did was a mistake. But we are not happy with the explanation...it is not adequate, and we are seeking more details," reported news agency Press Trust of India.

Sources said the government is treating the matter seriously and is examining both Meta's explanation and the circumstances that led to the video's removal.

Meta has told the government that the brief removal was caused by a glitch in its AI-powered automated content moderation systems. The Indian authorities have not accepted the explanation, pointing out that the technology firm relies heavily on AI-driven moderation.

If AI moderation systems can mistakenly remove content from the Prime Minister's official account, Meta was asked to demonstrate how it will improve the reliability of its systems, sources said.