NEW DELHI: Police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad have registered a case against the head of Meta India over videos posted on Facebook that allegedly depicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an “abusive manner”, a senior police officer said on Friday.
Authorities are preparing to issue a notice to Meta Platforms in connection with the case, although it had not yet been sent by Friday, according to V Aravind Babu, Hyderabad’s deputy commissioner of police for cyber crimes.
Meta did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Growing Tensions
The case marks the latest development in a series of disputes between Meta and the Indian government over content related to Prime Minister Modi.
Earlier this week, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology summoned Meta executives after Facebook briefly restricted one of Modi’s posts.
A senior government official said the ministry wanted the company to explain the incident at the highest level.
Meta later said the restriction was inadvertent.
The post was Modi’s first public statement addressing nationwide student protests that led to the resignation of India’s education minister.
Online Criticism
In recent weeks, Modi has faced widespread criticism, satire and ridicule on social media amid continuing protests.
India is Facebook’s largest market by number of users, making the country a key market for Meta’s operations.
