Facebook posts disappear across states, Meta attributes removals to technical error

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Meta has explained the removal of Facebook posts by news media outlets, saying they were taken down due to a technical error during an update to the company's AI software and not at anyone's direction. Meta's nodal officer in India informed the Kerala Police Cyber Operations Wing about the issue.

The company said posts had been removed in several states across the country, not just in Kerala. The technical issue has since been resolved and all the removed posts have been restored, Meta said. The response came after the Cyber Operations Wing sought an explanation from Meta.

The Opposition had alleged that Chief Minister V D Satheesan was behind the removal of the posts. Amid the controversy, the Chief Minister's Office and the police cyber wing clarified that the Chief Minister had no role in the incident.

Satheesan had said he was ready to write to Meta and had no influence over the company to get news reports removed. He said the only request he had made to Meta so far was to make his office's official Instagram page, 'CMO Kerala', available.
The Chief Minister said two months had passed since the application was submitted, but the account had still not been made available.