'Discussions with Meta on policy matters in a week,' says MeiTY secretary after PM Modi's post removed temporarily from Facebook

A brief restriction on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post has stirred concern in the government, which will hold discussions with Meta within a week on policy and technical matters linked to the incident.

The government has summoned Meta's public policy head after the Prime Minister's Facebook post on July 23, addressing India's youth and promising stringent measures against exam paper leaks, was briefly restricted by the US-headquartered social media company. The government has asked Meta to come in at the highest level and explain the issue that led to the glitch, according to a PTI report.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the CII conference on semiconductors, Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan said, "They will be coming and explaining what the situation is. We want to have both a policy-level and a technical understanding of the issues, and an adaptation to the kinds of concerns India has in this regard. There are several issues we have, which we will raise with them when they come. I think, within the next week, they will be coming," he said.

Meta, which owns Facebook, is learnt to have written to the government outlining the specifics of enhanced and rigorous safeguards it has now implemented for content posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent accounts. While the social media company attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology found the explanation "inadequate".

Sources said Meta has informed the ministry that posts by the Prime Minister and select prominent accounts will now be subject to additional oversight on the platform, with multiple levels of checks involving senior company officials. Any decision will undergo rigorous checks and require review by at least two senior officials of the company, sources said, citing the firm's latest communication to the ministry. Meta has expressed regret over the incident and explained the circumstances that led to it, sources said, adding that the company has also outlined the corrective measures it has since implemented and shared its assessment.

Krishnan said Meta has to give reasons for the cause that led to the incident. "They have also given us the reasons, their understanding of the reason why it happened. They have also indicated that as of July 28, they have established new protocols relating to accounts of prominent persons to avoid such a situation from occurring," he said.

Modi's July 23 Instagram post, later shared on Facebook, marked his first direct selfie video aimed at engaging with the youth and underscoring the government's commitment to crack down on exam paper leaks amid students' protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party.

The Facebook version of the post was briefly restricted by Meta before being restored. Following the incident, the global head of public policy of Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram, was summoned by MeitY. The government is now set to seek both policy-level and technical explanations from the company when the discussions take place within the next week.