After PM Modi post row, Meta faces tough questions on algorithms, deepfakes and your feed

What began as a brief restriction on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post has now widened into a more sensitive examination of Meta's systems in India. India Today has learnt that Meta's technical team met officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, with discussions centred on the company's algorithm and technical systems.

MUST READ | Meta's Mark Zuckerberg apologises for child abuse material, deepfakes, content boosting: Sources

What transpired behind closed doors?

Sources said Meta is learnt to have acknowledged gaps in its algorithmic mechanisms during the discussions. In earlier meetings, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had asked Meta to identify all concerns and submit a corrective action plan.

Meta team's India stay extended

Meta's global team is likely to stay in India for further discussions; more meetings with the IT Secretary-led team are expected, and both sides have agreed to stay engaged until the issues are resolved. MeitY has reiterated that all platforms must fully comply with Indian law and has urged swift corrective action.

DO CHECKOUT | Meta apologises for restricting PM Modi's Facebook video

Latest discussions

The latest engagement between Meta and government officials followed earlier meetings in which the minister had asked the company to identify all areas of concern and place a corrective action plan before the government. Sources said the talks focused on Meta's algorithm and the technical systems behind its content moderation and content delivery processes.

Apology over PM Modi's post

Meta has apologised for temporarily restricting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post and described the incident as an "error". "I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post," said Joel Kaplan, Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer.

The apology came after Meta executives, led by Kaplan, met Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and IT Secretary S. Krishnan in New Delhi. However, government sources told PTI that the apology came from Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. Kaplan, who previously served as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under former US President George W. Bush before joining Meta in 2011, flew to India for the meetings.

Meta had earlier restored Modi's post and attributed its removal to an error by its AI-powered automated content filters.

Issues raised by the government

According to the report, the discussions went beyond the Prime Minister's Facebook post. Indian officials questioned Meta over child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, safeguards for verified and prominent accounts, algorithmic bias and compliance with Indian laws.

Meta executives admitted to failures involving child sexual abuse content and deepfakes. They also admitted that "a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content."

Intermediary protection under scrutiny

The Centre also challenged Meta's claim to intermediary protection under the Information Technology Act. Indian officials argued that Meta's algorithms actively decide which users receive content instead of merely hosting third-party posts. Because of this, they said, the company cannot claim to be a neutral intermediary entitled to safe harbour protections from liability.

How the row began

The controversy began after Facebook temporarily restricted Prime Minister Modi's July 23 post addressing students on examination paper leaks. The video had first been uploaded on Instagram before being shared on Facebook, where it was briefly restricted.

The incident triggered political outrage. The government summoned Meta's global executives, while a Parliamentary Standing Committee sought an apology from Zuckerberg within three days. IT Secretary Krishnan had said on Tuesday that the government wanted to understand why Meta's systems had failed and how the company planned to comply with Indian legal requirements.