The committee warned that non-compliance could prompt the Government of India to consider revoking Facebook's Safe Harbor protection.

Apologise or face action: House panel's 3-day ultimatum to Mark Zuckerberg on PM video row

The Parliamentary panel termed the deletion of PM Modi's video an "attack on democracy", saying it targeted the representative of 1.4 billion Indians, and gave Mark Zuckerberg three days to apologise, warning that Facebook could lose its Safe Harbor protection if its CEO failed to comply.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Govt says failure to comply could cost Facebook its Safe Harbor protection
  • Panel calls video removal an 'attack on democracy' targeting 1.4 billion Indians
  • Meta downplays removal as a 'technical glitch', Centre rejects explanation

The Parliamentary Committee of Communications and Information Technology has issued a three-day ultimatum to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologise for the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's July 23 video briefly from Facebook and take action against those responsible for it.

The panel, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, termed the deletion of PM Modi's video an "attack on democracy", saying it targeted the representative of 1.4 billion Indians.

According to the sources, the committee has warned that failure to comply within three days could prompt the Government of India to consider revoking Facebook's Safe Harbor protection, potentially exposing the platform's officials to direct criminal prosecution.

Notably, revoking Facebook's Safe Harbor protection would pave the way for FIRs to be filed directly against officials of the social media platform.

The controversy stems from the brief removal of PM Modi's video on July 23, which was originally posted on Instagram before being shared on Facebook.

The selfie-style video, PM Modi’s first direct address in that format, promised stringent action against paper leaks amid student protests led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Meta briefly restricted the Facebook version of the post before restoring it following widespread backlash.

Earlier this week, the panel had also summoned and questioned Meta officials over the incident. While the company apologised, attributing the removal to a "technical glitch", the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology rejected the explanation as "not reasonable", saying that if the incident was indeed caused by a technical error, Meta, as a technology company, should strengthen its systems to prevent such lapses.

The brief disappearance of the video was noticed immediately by BJP leaders and online commentators, who lost no time in flagging it to Meta and demanding answers.

In a separate direction, the panel has also asked major digital platforms, including Google, YouTube, X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat, to remove Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and objectionable content targeting women within three days. It cautioned that strict action could follow if the platforms fail to comply.

Meanwhile, Telangana Police have registered an FIR against Google and Meta over separate allegations. Google has been accused of hosting fraudulent financial applications, while Meta has been booked over the circulation of a fake video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

- Ends