Meta has apologised to the Indian government after briefly restricting a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July, marking the latest flashpoint in the company's ongoing tussles with authorities over content moderation.

Meta Platforms' chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan said he had apologised to Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on behalf of the company, attributing the incident to an operational error.

"I apologised to the minister on behalf of Meta for the error restricting PM Modi's post," Kaplan said in a statement.

The apology came after senior Meta executives, including Kaplan, met officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in New Delhi on 5 August. According to reports, the discussions centred on content moderation, compliance with Indian law and the temporary removal of the Prime Minister's post.

The development also comes amid increasing regulatory scrutiny of Meta in India.

Last week, Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police registered an FIR against Meta India head Arun Srinivas over AI-generated videos allegedly targeting Prime Minister Modi.

The company had then said it was cooperating with the authorities.

The case relates to manipulated videos and images allegedly circulated on Meta-owned platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, following student protests over the alleged NEET paper leak. Investigators are examining whether the content violated provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act, while also assessing whether Meta's systems for detecting and limiting manipulated content were adequate.

Separately, local media reported that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also apologised to the Indian government over child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and other operational lapses on the company's platforms during the meetings with MeitY officials. Meta has not publicly commented on those reports.

According to the reports, Indian officials also raised concerns over whether Meta's algorithm-driven content recommendation systems could affect the company's safe harbour protections under the Information Technology Act. Safe harbour provisions generally shield intermediaries from liability for user-generated content, provided they comply with prescribed legal requirements.

The latest developments come amid heightened scrutiny of online platforms in India. The government had earlier directed Meta to remove content and advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material on Instagram, while the company reiterated its zero-tolerance policy and said it was continuing to strengthen its detection systems.

The developments also follow reports of increased enforcement action linked to online content around the student protests.

Alongside the FIR against Meta, there has been speculation around an enforcement raid at influencer marketing agency Barcode Entertainment, reportedly in connection with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests.