Meta officials, it is learnt, had attributed the error to AI-powered automated content filters that were reviewing shared posts and subsequent content that circulated following the original post by the prime minister.
New Delhi: Meta has written to the government outlining the specifics of enhanced and rigorous safeguards it has now implemented for content posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent accounts, sources said on Wednesday.
The move assumes significance as the government on Tuesday summoned a top Meta executive after Modi’s recent post addressing India’s youth and promising stringent measures against paper leaks was briefly restricted on Facebook.
While the US-headquartered social media giant attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) found the explanation “inadequate”.
Meta has now informed the ministry that posts by the prime minister and select prominent accounts will be subject to additional oversight on the platform, with multiple levels of checks involving senior company officials, sources said.
Any decision will undergo rigorous checks and require review by at least two senior officials of the company, sources said, citing the social media firm’s latest communication to the ministry.
Meta has expressed regret over the incident, and explained the circumstances that led to it, sources said, adding that the company has also outlined the corrective measures it has since implemented, and shared its assessment.
A formal reply to the government’s notice is expected soon, while a team from Meta is likely to meet government officials later this week or early next week to discuss the issue, they said.
An email sent by PTI to Meta seeking comments did not elicit a response. Modi’s July 23 Instagram post, later shared on Facebook, marked his first direct selfie video aimed at engaging with the youth and underscoring the government’s commitment to crack down on paper leaks amid students’ protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party. The Facebook version of the post was briefly restricted by Meta before being restored.
Following the incident, the global head of public policy of Meta (Facebook and Instagram) was summoned by Meity.
IT Secretary S Krishnan on Tuesday said that while Meta has apologised and admitted that they have made a mistake, the ministry was not happy with the explanation provided and has sought more details from the company.
“It is good that they have apologised and admitted what they did was a mistake. But we are not happy with the explanation…it is not adequate, and we are seeking more details,” Krishnan had said.
Meta, it is learnt, told the government that a “glitch” in its automated content filters led to the brief removal of the prime minister’s Facebook post.
A Meta spokesperson had said on Tuesday that the content was removed “in error” and has since been restored on the platform.
Ministry sources had said that Meta’s explanation to the government, citing a technical glitch in the automated content filters, was “not reasonable”, and that the matter was “not settled and done”.
They had further said that if indeed a glitch in the automated system caused the error, then Meta, being a technology company, must hasten to improve its own tools.
Meta officials, it is learnt, had attributed the error to AI-powered automated content filters that were reviewing shared posts and subsequent content that circulated following the original post by the prime minister.
Sources had said that Meta claimed that its automated filters inadvertently ended up briefly removing the original post itself.
By summoning global executives, the government also wants to ensure that Meta’s leadership — all the way to the top — is made fully aware of concerns being raised by Indian authorities, the sources had said.
They want the global team to be adequately briefed by Meta’s India team on the issue. The summoning of global executives, rather than only local representatives, underscores the Centre’s intent to directly engage Meta’s international leadership on platform accountability, they said.