India demands Meta CEO apologise over removal of PM Modi's post

India's parliamentary committee on communications and information technology has given Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a three-day ultimatum to apologise for the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, News18 reports, citing sources.

The report said Zuckerberg has been asked to issue an apology and take action against those responsible for the temporary removal of a July 23 video featuring Modi.

Failure to do so could result in Meta losing its Safe Harbour protections, which provide the company with legal immunity for third-party content.

The parliamentary committee, chaired by ruling party lawmaker Nishikant Dubey, described the temporary removal of the prime minister's video as "an attack on democracy."

According to Dubey, the post represented not only Modi's views but also the voice of 1.4 billion Indians.

"If Facebook does not take action against those responsible for this incident, the company will lose protection under the Safe Harbour provision. Mark Zuckerberg will have to apologise. Otherwise, legal proceedings may be initiated," sources quoted Dubey as saying.

The controversy erupted after Facebook temporarily removed a video in which Modi discussed measures to combat examination paper leaks. Meta previously said the content had been taken down due to a technical error and was restored once the issue was identified.

The video, originally published on July 23, became temporarily unavailable on Facebook in the early hours of July 28 before access was restored.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov