Case filed against Meta India head over ‘disrespectful’ portrayal of Modi on Facebook
Picture: Reuters
Police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad have filed a case against the head of Meta India for allegedly portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ‘disrespectful’ manner in several videos posted on the Facebook platform. A senior police official said this on Friday.
V. Aravind Babu who is Deputy Commissioner of Police of Hyderabad’s Cyber Crime Department, said police were preparing to send a notice to Meta Platforms regarding the case. However, the notice had not been issued as of Friday.
The case is the latest incident in a series of tensions between Meta and the Modi government over various content concerning Prime Minister Modi. Last week, Facebook temporarily restricted a post by Modi, and this week India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta officials. A senior government official said the government wanted an explanation from Meta at the highest level over the matter.
At the time, a Meta spokesperson said the post had been blocked unintentionally. It was Modi’s first post in which he spoke about the widespread student movement that forced the education minister to resign.
In recent weeks, widespread online criticism, satire and mockery of Modi have also emerged from protesters.
India is Facebook’s largest market in terms of user numbers.
