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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology chairperson and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey has demanded an apology from Mark Zukerberg, founder of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram etc. The demand came in connection with the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video related to the NEET paper leak from its platform on July 23.
The panel chairperson and other NDA MPs on the panel warned social media company representatives that it would recommend removing safe harbour, a legal provision which protects social media platforms from the liability of third party content. However, members of the panel belonging to the Opposition parties insisted the government could regulate technology, not democracy.
A video posted from the official social media handles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 23, addressing the issue of question paper leak during the protest organised by Cockroach Janata Party, was briefly removed from Facebook, which according to Meta happened due to a technical error as they used an AI tool to remove certain content.
Safe harbour is a legal concept which protects internet intermediaries, including social media platforms, from the liabilities of third party content. In India, social media platforms enjoy this protection as per section 79 of Information Technology Act 2000. The panel is learned to have demanded from Meta a complete audit trail - from report to restoration - of the process.
During the meeting, the BJP members of the panel questioned Meta’s algorithm and the massive reach of the contents which are ‘anti-national’. There were questions on why the platform was supporting anti-nationals. It was pointed out by the BJP members that the followers of Instagram handles of parties like the Cockroach Janata Party was growing exponentially unlike other parties.
While BJP members argued over the Prime Minister’s video, Opposition members emphasised that the issue was not just about the Prime Minister’s digital rights, but also those of ordinary users whose posts, and even entire accounts, were being removed from the platform. They argued that anti-government does not mean anti-national. The Congress representatives questioned the government's influence over content moderation.
When it came to concerns over deep fake, use of artificial intelligence for unethical purposes and the prevalance of child sexual abuse content on these platforms, all members were United in their condemnation and call for action.
Neither Meta nor Zuckerberg has officially responded to the apology demand.
