Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, 6 August publicly accused Meta of restricting his Instagram account in India without explanation, escalating a broader confrontation between Indian authorities and the social media giant over content moderation practices.

Kejriwal's Allegations Against Meta

Kejriwal raised the issue directly on X (formerly Twitter), stating: 'Hi Meta, why have you restricted my account? Verbal enquiries at your India office revealed that my account has been restricted in India and is unavailable in India. Why? No one in your office is giving any reasons.'

He added: 'No one is suggesting how restrictions can be removed. All emails written have elicited no response other than routine acknowledgement. That's pretty bad service. Don't bow down to our Prime Minister so much. Else he will allow u to run only his own account in India.'

Kejriwal did not provide independent verification of the restriction, and Meta had not publicly responded to his specific claims as of the time of reporting.

Meta Apologises Over PM Modi's Facebook Post

The accusation comes a day after Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan apologised to Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post. 'I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post,' Kaplan said in a statement.

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.

Zuckerberg Cited on CSAM and Deepfakes

Earlier on the same day, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly apologised to government officials over the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), deepfake content, and broader operational shortcomings, according to government sources. Sources said Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns raised by the government regarding objectionable and manipulated content and expressed regret over what were described as platform errors.

Safe Harbour Warning to Meta

Government sources further claimed that Indian officials 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. According to these sources, it was made clear that '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.

'It was made clear to them that they are not covered under the intermediary definition. They select who receives the content. Safe harbour under the IT Act not applicable. They admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting certain types of content. They apologised and regretted the mistake,' the sources said.

This is a significant legal signal: losing intermediary status under Indian law would expose Meta to direct liability for content hosted on its platforms — a potentially far-reaching consequence for the company's India operations.

What Happens Next

The government has not announced any formal regulatory action against Meta as yet. However, the back-to-back apologies, the safe harbour warning, and Kejriwal's public allegations together signal that scrutiny of Meta's India operations is intensifying. Any formal determination on intermediary status would likely involve the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and could set a precedent for other large social media platforms operating in India.