Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. File picture. (Pic Credit: The Hindu, AP)
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been given a three-day ultimatum by a parliamentary standing committee on Wednesday (August 5, 2026) to issue an apology for Facebook taking down Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video, with the panel warning that the company’s legal immunity could be revoked if he fails to comply.
According to a letter from the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology — headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Nishikant Dubey — has sought the withdrawal of Instagram’s safe harbour following the company’s erroneous blocking of PM Modi’s July 23 video message amid youth protests at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country.
The removal has drawn the government’s ire, with senior officials demanding an exhaustive explanation from Meta and an apology from its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The committee also cited the BBC’s reporting on child sex abuse material (CSAM) advertisements on Instagram and demanded action against intermediary platforms that carry CSAM and demeaning material against women.
Action against Google India
Similarly, the Committee had also demanded that Google India’s safe harbour be lifted, thereby leaving the firm liable to individual users’ posts as a publisher. The letter, seen by The Hindu, cited cyber crime complaints in Hyderabad where complainants lost over ₹48 lakh due to cyber frauds from apps downloaded from Google Play, where Google’s India country manager was named as a co-accused.
The letter was addressed to IT Secretary S. Krishnan, and copied to Home Secretary Govind Mohan. The IT Ministry and Meta did not have an immediate response to a query on the letter when contacted by The Hindu. Google declined to comment.
“During the deliberations, the Committee demanded an apology from Mr. Mark Zukerberg, Meta Chief on this issue,” the Committee wrote in the letter. “If he fails to tender an unqualified apology within 3 days of receipt of this letter, the protection/immunity given under Section 79(3) of IT Act may be withdrawn and action taken against him as a Publisher.”
Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 says that “an intermediary shall not be liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted by” them, subject to certain conditions.
The IT Rules, 2021 are the main way those conditions have been expanded by the government, including requirements of taking down content upon notice by law enforcement agencies or designated government officers.
At a hearing where Meta, Google and X (formerly Twitter) representatives were speaking in front of the Committee on Monday (August 3, 2026), MPs from the Opposition pushed back against the ruling party’s line of questioning, saying content moderation on social media platforms should not be subject to political influence.
Revoking safe harbour
It is unclear if safe harbour can be revoked by the government. “There is no express legal provision under the present legal framework through which the Government can directly remove or revoke the safe harbour protection provided to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act,” law firm Scriboard’s founder Ravi Goyal told The Hindu.
“Moreover, the safe harbour protection provided under Section 79 is not a blanket or platform-wide immunity and instead applies in relation to specific content or instances. Therefore, even if an intermediary is found not to be entitled to such protection in respect of a particular piece of content or instance, it could still continue to avail the protection under Section 79 for its services, subject to compliance with law. Thus, such actions are determined on a case-to-case basis by a court of law,” he added.
Published – August 05, 2026 03:25 pm IST
