NEW DELHI: Rejecting Meta’s apology for taking down a PM Narendra Modi’s video, a parliamentary committee Monday sought a personal apology from its founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and warned of seeking removal of its safe harbour protection if he failed to comply, its chairperson Nishikant Dubey said.Dubey said removal of the PM’s video was either a serious failure of the system or there “is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of the PM” on part of Meta. “If this is how they deal with the official post of the PM, what can the common people of India expect? This failure cannot be dismissed merely as a technical error. It is a serious matter and an apology must come from Zuckerberg’s side. And if he does not apologise, safe harbour protection should be taken back from them,” Dubey said.Senior representatives of a host of social media platforms, including X, Google, YouTube, besides Meta, appeared before the Dubey-led committee on communications and IT, besides home secretary Govind Mohan and IT secretary S Krishnan.Parliamentarians questioned digital platforms over their choice of algorithms and presence of unlawful content, including child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deep fake investment scams, and targeting of women, with Meta being particularly at the receiving end of their ire.While some opposition MPs emphasised that social media must retain space of dissent and ‘anti-govt’ content should not be considered ‘anti-national’, the committee was unanimous in asking for stricter and timely measures against the content that are in violation of their own stated policies, especially involving CSAM, cyber frauds, and harassment of women.“We are unanimous and non-partisan on all issues,” Dubey said, adding that even MHA’s communications is ignored by these platforms.The BJP MP referred to the high online viewership grabbed by CJP during its recent protest, saying it, at 27 million, was more than the combined viewership of parties like BJP, Congress, AAP and SP. He blamed the platforms’ choice of algorithm favouring new entrants for this.
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Some MPs demanded that Meta must fix accountability for removing Modi’s video, which was restored later by the social media behemoth, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.Social media platforms can amplify or suppress any content’s reach, remove it or attach community notes that carry abuses, and then the question is whether they are mere intermediaries as they claim or publishers, Dubey said.“It is disturbing that in 2025 alone approximately 28.15 lakh cybercrime complaints were reported nationally, with estimated losses of nearly Rs 22,495 crore,” he added.
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