Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 5: Meta on Wednesday apologised for the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, with the company's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan saying the apology had been conveyed directly to Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
"I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post," Kaplan said in a statement shared by the company.
Kaplan was part of a global Meta delegation that met Vaishnaw on Wednesday. During the meeting, the company acknowledged lapses in the functioning of its platforms. The delegation also held separate discussions with IT Secretary S. Krishnan before meeting the minister.
The apology comes amid increased scrutiny of Meta's operations in India following concerns over content moderation and the temporary restriction of the Prime Minister's Facebook post.
Earlier in the day, government sources said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had also apologised over the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and shortcomings in the operation of the company's platforms.
According to the sources, Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns raised by the government over the circulation of objectionable and manipulated content and expressed regret over what were described as operational errors on the platform.
Government sources further claimed that officials informed Meta that its role in selecting and distributing content to users could place the company outside the definition of a neutral intermediary under Indian law.
According to the sources, the government made it clear that the "safe harbour" protections available under the Information Technology Act may not apply if a platform is found to be actively determining which content reaches users.
"It was made clear to them that they are not covered under the intermediary definition. They select who receives the content. Safe harbour under the IT Act is not applicable. They admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting certain types of content. They apologised and regretted the mistake," the sources said.
Meta has not publicly commented on the claims attributed to government sources regarding intermediary status or content promotion.