‘Extremely disturbing occurrence ’: MeitY reacts to removal of PM Modi video, seeks explanation from Meta

On July 28, Meta removed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video post on the NEET paper leak issue from Facebook. The social media giant later claimed that it was removed due to a ‘technical glitch’ and apologised for the error, restoring the post shortly afterwards. Now, S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has provided a statement on the incident, saying that an apology alone is not enough.

Krishnan said that the removal of posts from a verified Facebook account is a serious and unacceptable incident. He said that the incident was “an extremely disturbing occurrence, it should have never happened.”

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While he welcomed Meta's apology, Krishnan said that Meta's explanation was not satisfactory. Meta said the post was removed because of a "technical glitch," but Krishnan said this explanation is not fully convincing.

“I think the explanation that it was a technical ground and that there was a technical glitch does not appear to be an acceptable explanation in its entirety.”

MeitY seeks explanation for removal of PM Modi’s post

In the statement, Krishnan said that the government wants a detailed technical explanation, and has asked Meta to provide more information to understand exactly how the incident occurred.

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“We will have a very detailed technical meeting as to how these things happen. We will seek assurances that the handles of prominent personalities in India should be ringfenced, and once it's a verified account, it should be ensured that content that is posted there is not removed on such flimsy grounds or on such mistakes which happen,” he said.

WhatsApp's username feature

While the removal of PM Modi’s post has raised eyebrows, Krishnan has also provided an update on the controversial WhatsApp username feature. He said that MeitY has received explanations from WhatsApp and other platforms on the usernames feature, and it is currently reviewing those responses.