Parliamentary panel summons Google, Meta, X, Snapchat over digital platform regulation
A parliamentary panel has called MeitY, the Home Ministry and major platforms for a meeting on digital regulation. The hearing comes amid scrutiny over Meta's brief removal of the Prime Minister's video and police takedown notices linked to protests.
- Jul 28, 2026,
- Updated Jul 28, 2026, 3:00 PM IST
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology will meet on August 3 to examine the regulation of social and digital platforms, with senior officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Home Affairs, Google, Meta, X and Snapchat scheduled to appear before the panel.
The meeting comes amid renewed scrutiny of social media platforms following Meta's temporary removal of a Facebook video featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks on action against examination paper leaks. The company later restored the video, saying it had been removed due to a technical error.
"The content was removed in error and has since been restored," a Meta spokesperson said.
The video, released on July 23, was Prime Minister Modi's first direct address to Gen Z during the 36-day-long Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 examination. In his address, he assured students that the government would strengthen laws against paper leaks by introducing stricter punishments and setting up Special Fast-Track Courts.
The Centre later introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, which proposes jail terms of up to 10 years, higher financial penalties and the establishment of Special Fast-Track Courts for offences under the law.
The student agitation ended on July 25 after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. The Centre also reached an understanding with the CJP and activist Sonam Wangchuk to withdraw cases against protesters, prevent alleged police harassment and bring in tougher anti-paper leak legislation.
The committee meeting also follows recent action by Delhi Police, which directed several social media platforms to remove posts and videos containing allegedly abusive remarks against the Prime Minister. The content was linked to demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and the violence during the July 20 'Sansad Chalo' march.
Delhi Police said its social media monitoring teams have been tracking online activity related to the protests and issuing notices to intermediaries for the removal of objectionable content. According to the police, several posts have already been taken down, while monitoring of online platforms is continuing.