Mark Zuckerberg Will Have To Apologise: Parliament Panel Chief On PM Video Row
New Delhi: Facebook's parent Meta's apology for removing a video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be enough until accountability for the lapse is properly traced and legal action is taken, people with direct knowledge of the matter have said, citing a meeting called by the parliamentary panel on IT headed by Nishikant Dubey.
Meta officials also faced tough questions on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms.
"Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg must apologise for deleting the video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Dubey said, adding if he doesn't, Meta may no longer have a "safe harbour" in several cases. Safe harbour clause in India's law shields online platforms and ISPs from liability for third-party content they host, as long as they practice due diligence.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT today met representatives of social media giants including Google, Meta and YouTube and top officials from the Union Home Ministry and MeitY to discuss social media regulation.
During the meeting, a senior BJP MP asked Meta who would take responsibility for removing the prime minister's video, people familiar with the matter said.
In the video, PM Modi had addressed young people and promised a severe crackdown to stop exam paper leaks.
Sources said the BJP MP asked several questions to Meta, after which the company owned by Mark Zuckerberg offered to apologise and also "expressed regret".
"Why was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video removed? Who is responsible for this? Who removed the video from the platform at a time when Facebook had not removed a great deal of other objectionable content? Who bears the ultimate responsibility for this?" the BJP MP said, according to government sources, asking not to be identified.
After Meta responded, the MP pointed out the issue was not merely about an apology, but that accountability must be established and legal action should be taken, sources said.
Sources said the MP questioned Meta what protection was available to common social media users in India if the prime minister's video can be removed just like that.
In February 2024, Zuckerberg had apologised to families at a US Senate hearing about the impact that social media had on children.
Under prodding from a Republican senator, Zuckerberg stood up and addressed families who held up pictures of their children who they said had been harmed by social media.
He was also shown a video in which children spoke about being bullied on social media platforms. Some recounted stories of young people taking their own lives after being extorted for money after sharing photos with sexual predators.
"The biggest thing about today's meeting and this committee is that this committee is unanimous on all issues. It is a non-partisan matter. And regarding the algorithm, in that algorithm, you have to understand the situation that has been created. What Meta India did, what X did, what YouTube did, that is worth knowing for the country.
"If you look at the viewership for BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Aam Aadmi Party, that viewership is only 23 million. And those who are neither a registered party nor a registered NGO, under some kind of provocation on the streets, their algorithm is at 27 million. All political parties combined are at 23-24 million, whereas they are alone there.
"Recently, an anti-reservation forum was formed 5-6 days ago; it is at 7 million. And the reason for that is they have a policy that they will give preference to new people, and they will not give preference to old people," Dubey told reporters after the meeting.
"Their mindset is to destabilise the country. The video of the prime minister can be taken down easily, which they themselves admitted that it was taken down for five hours. From 12.30 am to 5 am, the content was missing. So this is a very serious matter," Dubey said.
"Our committee has said two things, that this apology should come from Zuckerberg. And if Zuckerberg doesn't give it, then the safe harbour protection they have should be revoked from them."
MeitY had last week summoned Meta's global team on issues linked to algorithmic bias, the platform's algorithmic processes and their role in public order. Meta attributed the video matter to a technical glitch, but MeitY found the explanation "inadequate", sources said.
The Hyderabad cyber crime police have filed cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and some accounts on Facebook and Instagram over allegedly morphed and AI posts targeting PM Modi.
