Top officials from the Indian government is meeting Meta's Global Head of Public Policy, Joel Kaplan, along with a senior Instagram technical official today, in a session expected to cover child sexual abuse material on the platform, artificial intelligence generated deepfakes, and the temporary removal of a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Kaplan has been summoned for the second time within a week, with the government stepping up scrutiny of the social media company's content moderation systems and algorithmic functioning. Technical officials from Instagram have also been called to attend, according to multiple media reports.
Officials are expected to seek an explanation on how Meta's recommendation algorithm functions, and why some posts, including those critical of the government, allegedly receive greater visibility than others. The Centre is also reported to be seeking a written apology from Meta over the removal of the Prime Minister's video.
The PM Modi video removal
The controversy stems from a reel posted by Modi on July 23, during nationwide protests over the NEET UG paper leak. In the video, the Prime Minister addressed protesting students and promised fast track courts and stricter penalties in paper leak cases. The reel was taken down hours after being posted, before being restored the same day.
Meta initially attributed the removal to a glitch in its automated content moderation systems. A company spokesperson said the content was removed in error and had since been restored. Before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, Meta officials later clarified that the takedown occurred after the platform's automated deepfake detection mechanism incorrectly flagged and removed the video.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology found this explanation unsatisfactory. It concluded that Meta's India policy team had failed to convey the seriousness of the government's concerns to the company's headquarters. MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan is reported to have sent the summons to Kaplan through an email invitation.
Parliamentary panel weighs in
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey, met on August 3 and summoned representatives from Meta, X, Snapchat and Google to discuss platform regulation, including how these companies safeguard the privacy of women, children, farmers, rural residents, laborers and the wider public.
After the meeting, Dubey said Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg should apologise for the removal of the Prime Minister's video, and warned that the company could risk losing its 'safe harbour' protection in certain cases if he did not. Committee members reportedly told Meta representatives that the matter went beyond an apology, and that accountability needed to be fixed with legal action to follow. Members also raised concerns about what protection ordinary social media users in India could expect if even the Prime Minister's video could be taken down without warning.
Deepfakes linked to Pakistan-based accounts
The episode has also drawn attention to the spread of AI-generated deepfakes during the NEET-UG protests. Delhi Police said it had blocked more than 400 Pakistan-linked social media handles allegedly circulating deepfake material related to the demonstrations, while Maharashtra Cyber flagged Pakistan-based accounts spreading AI-generated visuals connected to the protests.
MeitY's amendments to the Information Technology Rules in 2026 strengthened due diligence obligations for platforms in relation to synthetically generated information, a framework that is expected to feature in Wednesday's discussions.
CSAM ads on Instagram under scrutiny
Alongside the deepfake and algorithm concerns, Wednesday's meeting is also expected to take up an ongoing case involving advertisements on Instagram allegedly linked to child sexual abuse material. MeitY had earlier issued a notice to Meta after a BBC Eye investigation alleged that the platform's advertising and recommendation systems promoted content facilitating access to child sexual exploitation and abuse material, or CSEAM.
Responding at the time, a Meta spokesperson said the company maintains a zero tolerance policy on child sexual abuse material, including in advertisements, and said it uses artificial intelligence systems to proactively detect violating content, while acknowledging it remains in a continuous fight against bad actors attempting to evade detection. Meta said it disabled the flagged advertisements, suspended the accounts involved and blocked the associated links once alerted.
