The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has called senior Meta officials to explain the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, with the company expected to appear before the government within the next seven to 10 days.
Speaking on the issue, MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan said the government wants both a policy-level and technical-level understanding of how the incident occurred and will convey India's concerns directly to the social media giant.
According to the secretary, Meta has already expressed regret over the incident and shared its preliminary explanation with the government. However, New Delhi has sought a more detailed account of the events and the safeguards being put in place to prevent a recurrence.
The development comes a day after the government summoned a senior Meta executive over the brief restriction of the Prime Minister's post addressing India's youth and promising strict action against paper leaks. While Meta attributed the episode to a technical glitch and apologised, the government said the explanation provided was inadequate.
Krishnan said Meta has informed the government that, starting July 28, it has implemented a new protocol aimed at preventing similar incidents. The enhanced process includes additional oversight for content posted by the Prime Minister and other prominent accounts.
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