Meta Chief Zuckerberg Apologises Over Illegal Content, Platform Lapses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised over the presence of child sexual abuse material, deepfake content and other illegal material on the company’s platforms, sources said on Wednesday. The development followed a meeting between Meta’s global representatives and senior officials of India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The meeting came after the government summoned Meta executives over the temporary removal of a video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook and Instagram. The video, uploaded on July 23, was briefly taken down before being restored. Meta had attributed the incident to a technical error and said the content was removed mistakenly.

However, the government reportedly found the explanation inadequate and raised wider concerns about content moderation and the company’s handling of unlawful material. During Wednesday’s meeting, officials also questioned Meta over alleged lapses in preventing child sexual abuse material and other objectionable content from appearing on its platforms.

According to sources, Meta representatives acknowledged that significant amounts of money had been spent on promoting certain categories of content and admitted that illegal material had been boosted. The company is expected to face further questioning, with officials indicating that its representatives could be summoned again.

The government also reportedly told Meta that it does not qualify for protection under the intermediary definition in the manner being claimed. Officials argued that because the platform exercises control over which users receive particular content, safe-harbour protections under India’s Information Technology Act may not apply. Meta’s global team, including Global Affairs chief Joel Kaplan, held discussions with IT Secretary S Krishnan and other senior ministry officials. The meeting lasted around 45 minutes.