HYDERABAD, Telangana, India: Police named Meta India chief Arun Srinivas as a co-accused in two cases over allegedly manipulated Facebook and Instagram videos targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police registered the cases after Bharatiya Janata Party supporters complained about content they considered objectionable, according to the Times of India.
One complainant submitted 20 links to Facebook and Instagram. Police invoked provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act against the account operators and Srinivas.
Deputy Commissioner of Police V Aravind Babu told Reuters that authorities were preparing to send Meta Platforms a notice. Meta did not immediately respond to the news agency’s request for comment.
Authorities had not publicly explained why they named the Meta India chief personally. Technology lawyer Akash Karmakar told Reuters that individual liability normally requires evidence of an “active role and knowledge.”
India tightened its intermediary rules in February. Platforms must now remove unlawful content within three hours of receiving a court order or an authorised government notice, according to the official consolidated rules.
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The cases followed another dispute between Meta and Modi’s government in New Delhi. India’s IT ministry summoned Meta executives after Facebook briefly restricted Modi’s July 23 video addressing youth protests over leaked examination papers.
Meta said it restricted the post inadvertently and later restored it. The protests led to the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
