Kathmandu— Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologized to the Indian government for issues involving Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), deepfake content, and errors in platform operations. The apology came after a high-level delegation from Meta met with MeitY Secretary S Krishnan to address concerns raised by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications.

Government Demands Apology

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications, emphasized that Meta must apologize within three days or face the revocation of 'safe harbour' protection under Section 79 of India's Information Technology Act. He stated that deleting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video was not an intermediary’s responsibility but that of a publisher.

Platform Errors and CSAM Concerns

The committee also raised concerns about the removal of PM Modi’s video on Facebook, which was missing for over four hours. Dubey noted that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred, referencing a similar issue in January regarding the 2024 elections.

Additionally, the committee questioned Meta's handling of CSAM and deepfake content, noting that YouTube also faces similar issues but with stricter government rules in place.

Technical Errors and Legal Consequences

Meta acknowledged that PM Modi’s video was removed due to a technical error on July 28. The company stated that the content had been restored after being mistakenly taken down.

Dubey warned that if Zuckerberg fails to apologize, there could be a nationwide flood of FIRs filed against Meta by those affected by such content, potentially leading to legal consequences for the platform.

(With inputs from ANI)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.