New Delhi: Meta CGAO Joel Kaplan in a statement he said that I apologized to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi’s post. He apologized for the temporary restriction of PM Narendra Modi’s Facebook post and an apology was conveyed directly to Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Kaplan was part of a global Meta delegation that met Vaishnaw on Wednesday, during which the company acknowledged lapses in the functioning of its platforms. The delegation also held separate discussions with IT Secretary S. Krishnan ahead of the ministerial meeting.

The latest apology comes amid heightened scrutiny of Meta’s operations in India after concerns were raised over content moderation and the brief restriction of the Prime Minister’s Facebook post. According to the Government sources, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also apologized over the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and shortcomings in the operation of the company’s platforms.

According to the sources, Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns rose by the Government regarding the spread of objectionable and manipulated content and expressed regret over what were described as errors in the operation of the platform. Further claimed that authorities conveyed to Meta that its role in selecting and distributing content to users could place it outside the definition of a neutral intermediary under Indian law, it added.

The officials made it clear that the safe harbour protections available under the Information Technology Act may not apply if a platform is found to be actively determining which content reaches users. They admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting certain types of content. They apologized and regretted the mistake, the sources said.