Meta Briefly Restricts Modi Facebook Post to Student Protesters; Indian Regulator Summons Company

Meta faces regulatory pressure in India. In July 2026, Meta briefly restricted a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed to students, related to the Gen Z protests. Meta initially said the restriction was based on a legal request but later called it a mistake. The incident came after regulators summoned the company over child abuse content.

India's parliamentary committee on communications and information technology on Wednesday demanded that Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg apologize within three days for restricting Modi's post. India is a key market for Meta, hosting the largest user bases for WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.

Meta's chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, met with Indian Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday and apologized for the error in restricting Modi's post. Zuckerberg himself was reported to have apologized over child abuse content, deepfakes and platform errors, though Meta did not confirm those claims in an official statement.

The Indian government last month warned Instagram to remove child abuse advertisements and warned WhatsApp about the rollout of its username feature. During the Gen Z protests, Instagram became a platform for public discussion, and Modi began posting short videos to engage young protesters. Meta's global team will remain in India for three to four additional meetings with the IT ministry to assess its compliance with Indian law.

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology did not respond to requests for comment regarding proposals to revoke Meta's safe harbor immunity. For now, the Indian government has taken no formal action.