Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologises to Indian government over Modi post removal and child‑abuse content

Meta Mark Zuckerberg India safe harbour child sexual abuse material

Meta temporarily blocked a Facebook video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23 July 2026. The post was unavailable for about five to six hours before being restored, and the company said the removal was caused by a technical or operational error.

India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology gave Meta three days to issue an unconditional apology, warning that failure could lead to the loss of safe‑harbour protection under the Information Technology Act. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered the apology, and Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan met IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to convey it.

In the same hearings Meta acknowledged the presence of child sexual‑abuse material (CSAM) and deep‑fake content on its platforms and said it had spent substantial sums to boost certain content. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta executives for a second day of questioning on algorithmic recommendations, compliance with Indian law, and steps to curb CSAM and synthetic media. Hyderabad police also filed a case against Meta India head Arun Srinivas over videos alleged to depict Modi abusively. The episode has spurred further political commentary, including claims that Meta restricted opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal’s Instagram account.

Entities

Arun Srinivas · Ashwini Vaishnaw · India Parliament Standing Committee on Information Technology · Joel Kaplan · Mark Zuckerberg · Meta Platforms · Meta Platforms Inc. · Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (India) · Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) · Narendra Modi · Nishikant Dubey · Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.

[● 23 SOURCES] The parliamentary panel described the removal of Modi’s video as an “attack on democracy.” thefederal.com · en.tempo.co · sambadenglish.com · scroll.in · www.techjuice.pk · +16 more
[● 25 SOURCES] Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to Indian parliamentary panel for the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and operational errors on its platforms. www.news9live.com · www.zoomnews.in · sambadenglish.com · ca.news.yahoo.com · indias.news · +17 more
[● 9 SOURCES] Meta described the removal of Modi's video as a technical glitch. scroll.in · thefederal.com · www.news9live.com · en.tempo.co · www.zoomnews.in · +3 more
[● 23 SOURCES] India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta’s global head of public policy regarding the incident. scroll.in · en.tempo.co · www.zoomnews.in · www.india.com · ca.news.yahoo.com · +17 more
[● 27 SOURCES] Meta admitted it spent substantial sums of money to boost certain content on its platforms. www.news9live.com · www.zoomnews.in · thefederal.com · sambadenglish.com · samacharnama.com · +19 more
[● 6 SOURCES] The parliamentary panel said Meta's content recommendation practices may prevent it from claiming safe‑harbour protection. www.news9live.com · thefederal.com · sambadenglish.com · scroll.in · www.techjuice.pk · +1 more
[● 23 SOURCES] The parliamentary panel gave Zuckerberg three days to apologise, threatening revocation of safe‑harbour protection. scroll.in · thefederal.com · en.tempo.co · www.zoomnews.in · sambadenglish.com · +17 more
[● 31 SOURCES] The panel warned that failure to apologise could lead to revocation of safe‑harbour protection under Section 79 of the IT Act. scroll.in · thefederal.com · sambadenglish.com · www.techjuice.pk · en.tempo.co · +24 more
[● 23 SOURCES] Hyderabad police registered a case against Meta India head Arun Srinivas over videos depicting Modi in an abusive manner. jack1065.com · indias.news · www.socialnews.xyz · scroll.in · www.news9live.com · +17 more
[● 21 SOURCES] Meta’s Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan apologized to the IT minister for the error restricting Modi’s post. jack1065.com · indias.news · wixx.com · www.greaterkashmir.com · pragativadi.com · +15 more
[● 15 SOURCES] The parliamentary standing committee gave Mark Zuckerberg three days to issue an unconditional apology, threatening revocation of safe‑harbour protection under the IT Act. www.tv9hindi.com · scroll.in · www.origo.hu · en.tempo.co · samacharnama.com · +9 more
[● 15 SOURCES] India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta executives over the incident. www.ibc24.in · hindi.latestly.com · www.tv9hindi.com · scroll.in · www.origo.hu · +9 more