Mahua Moitra’s Message To Zuckerberg After PM Modi Video Row (Img: X)
New Delhi: The political row over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook reel intensified on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra came out in support of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. She urged the Meta chief not to apologise under government pressure, a day after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey demanded an apology over the incident.
The controversy stems from the brief removal of a Facebook reel posted by Prime Minister Modi on July 23. The video, in which the Prime Minister addressed the youth-led protests over the NEET paper leak for the first time, was reportedly unavailable on Facebook for a few hours before being restored.
Reacting to the controversy, Mahua Moitra posted on social media asking Zuckerberg not to bow to pressure. She alleged that the government frequently seeks the removal of content critical of it and claimed that the temporary removal of one video did not warrant such a strong reaction.
Hello Mark - @finkd please do not get bullied & apologise to anyone. Indian govt blackmails & threatens citizens all the time, gets content critical of it removed at will. One video mistakenly removed for few hours didn’t make heavens fall!
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 4, 2026
Her remarks came after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology questioned Meta over the incident and sought an explanation from the company.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the parliamentary panel, described the removal of the Prime Minister's video as a serious issue. He said Meta should issue an apology and warned that the company could face action regarding its "safe harbour" protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act if it failed to respond appropriately.
Dubey also raised concerns over Meta's content moderation practices, artificial intelligence-generated content, deepfakes, cyber fraud and child safety issues during the committee meeting.
Also Read: “Technical Glitch”: Meta Apologises After Blocking PM Modi’s Facebook Video
According to Members of Parliament present during the meeting, Meta representatives apologised for the incident and attributed the temporary removal of the Prime Minister's reel to an algorithmic error. Company officials reportedly assured the panel that corrective measures would be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The Centre has said it will continue discussions with Meta during the visit of the company's global team to India on August 5 and 6. Officials are expected to raise concerns over the handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), AI-generated content and the temporary removal of the Prime Minister's Facebook reel.
The incident has triggered a wider political debate over content moderation, the responsibilities of social media platforms and the balance between platform autonomy and regulatory oversight in India.
