Meta Faces Potential Loss of Safe Harbour Status in India Following PM Modi Video Removal

Meta is facing threats to its legal immunity in India after a parliamentary committee demanded a personal apology from CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the temporary removal of a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The video, posted on July 23 to address youth protests over exam paper leaks, was briefly unavailable on July 28. While Meta attributed the incident to a technical error, a parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology argued that the removal of the content indicated Meta was acting as a publisher rather than a neutral intermediary.

Nishikant Dubey, the BJP lawmaker heading the committee, stated that Zuckerberg must apologize within three days or the company could lose its safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. This protection currently shields social media platforms from liability for content posted by third party users. If revoked, Meta could be held legally responsible for individual user posts and face a surge of first information reports. Legal experts noted in several reports that safe harbour is a statutory protection and may not be removable by a simple executive or committee decision.

In a meeting on August 5, Meta's global head of public policy, Joel Kaplan, met with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and IT Secretary S. Krishnan. Kaplan issued an apology on behalf of Meta for the error. Government sources further claimed that Zuckerberg conveyed apologies for operational errors, deepfake content, and the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on the platform. These sources alleged that Meta admitted to paying for the promotion of certain illegal content to specific audiences.

The dispute occurs amid broader tensions involving the Cockroach Janta Party, a youth movement protesting exam irregularities. Government officials have asserted that Meta's use of algorithms to select who receives content means the company no longer fits the legal definition of an intermediary. Meta has not provided an official comment on all aspects of the meetings.