Meta Restores PM Modi’s Facebook Video After Removal, Says Takedown Was An Error

Meta has restored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video on Facebook after briefly removing it, saying the takedown happened due to an error. The development comes as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) summoned the global heads of Meta and Instagram over the temporary blocking of the Prime Minister’s video.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, a Meta spokesperson said, “The content was removed in error and has since been restored.”

MeitY seeks explanation from Meta

The temporary removal of the video prompted the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to summon senior executives of Meta and Instagram to explain the incident.

The video, uploaded on July 23, was reportedly inaccessible on Facebook for a brief period in the early hours of July 28 after initially appearing to have been restricted in response to what was believed to be a legal request.

Meta has since clarified that the removal was unintentional and reinstated the content.

PM Modi’s address focused on paper leaks

In the video, Prime Minister Modi addressed young people and said stricter action against examination paper leaks would be announced at the next Cabinet meeting.

The address attracted millions of views before it was briefly taken down from Facebook.

Video drew strong engagement online

The video also generated significant engagement across social media platforms. Reports claimed that it helped add nearly one million followers to Prime Minister Modi’s Instagram account overnight, taking his total follower count to around 101 million.

Prime Minister Modi remains one of the world’s most-followed political leaders on social media, with a digital following that surpasses many other global leaders.

The restored video continues to remain available on Facebook after Meta acknowledged that its removal was the result of an internal error.