A brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook video has triggered a fresh controversy in India, with the government demanding answers from Meta over what it calls a serious lapse in content handling. The video — a selfie message posted on 23 July, in which PM Modi addressed protesting students and announced tougher measures to curb examination paper leaks — suddenly became unavailable on Facebook early Tuesday.
Users attempting to view the post were shown a notice stating that the “attached media isn’t available in your region due to a legal request.” This immediately sparked confusion, as no such legal order had been issued by Indian authorities. Importantly, the video remained fully accessible on Instagram, confirming that the takedown was limited to Facebook alone.
Meta later issued an apology, calling the removal a “technical error” and stating that the content had been restored. The company did not clarify why Facebook displayed a legal‑restriction notice instead of a standard error message, prompting further scrutiny.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has taken the incident seriously, issuing summons to Meta’s global leadership to explain how the Prime Minister’s content was incorrectly blocked and why the platform mis‑labelled the removal as a legal action. Officials argue that such mistakes undermine public trust and raise questions about Meta’s internal moderation systems.
The episode comes at a time when Meta is already under pressure in India over issues related to child‑safety failures, privacy concerns, and algorithmic inconsistencies. Critics say repeated incidents point to deeper structural problems in how Facebook handles sensitive political content.
PM Modi’s message, now restored, emphasised that “nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth,” promising stronger action against paper leaks.