Meta restricts viral AI video of Kerala CM dancing with KSEB officials in India

Meta has restricted access in India to a viral AI-generated video showing Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan dancing with Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials, according to the creators of the video.

The video, posted on the Instagram page aikavala on Thursday, had garnered 1.78 crore views by Sunday, according to the page's operator.

Satheesan had recently referred to the video at an event organised by the Kerala High Court, saying he was excited to see it and joking that he could dance better than Malayalam superstar Mohanlal and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, the actor-turned-politician.

The video, which was created using artificial intelligence, depicts Satheesan dancing alongside KSEB officials against the backdrop of the recent power crisis in the state.

In a post on Sunday, aikavala said Meta had restricted access to the video in India after complying with a legal request.

A message from Meta shared by the creators said: “We have restricted access to your content in India pursuant to notice from the Government of India.”

Abhijith, who runs the Instagram page, said he did not believe the restriction had been initiated by the chief minister's office.

“We don't know the reason. But the CM had appreciated it in a public forum. The video can be viewed from other countries,” he told reporters.

“The CM really enjoyed it. So I don't think it came from his side. But there might be some cyber wings who might have initiated the steps,” he said.

Abhijith said his team had added a disclaimer to the video, which he believed was why it had not been removed completely.

Asked whether the team planned to challenge the restriction, he said no decision had been taken yet.

“People everywhere have embraced it. We view that widespread acceptance itself as a major achievement,” he said.

Satheesan referred to the video again on Monday after inaugurating the graduation ceremony of the 2026 graduating batch of Thiruvananthapuram Government Law College.

“I was shocked seeing the dance. I saw myself leading a group dance. I said that the splendid dance was enough to shock both Mohanlal and my friend, Vijay,” he said.

Satheesan said that while the video was partly intended to mock him, he was happy with the response it received.

“A five-year-old child came up to me and said, ‘Sir, your dance was splendid!’ So that child believed I had actually danced,” he said.

The chief minister also flagged the potential legal complications arising from AI-generated content.

“Artificial intelligence is creating many such things nowadays. There will be legal issues there. When they imitate many things like this, legal implications are bound to arise,” he said.

The latest restriction comes after an earlier dispute between Meta and the Kerala government over the removal of news videos critical of the state government and Satheesan.

Satheesan had denied that his office had sought their removal, following which the Chief Minister's Office wrote to Meta seeking their reinstatement. Meta subsequently attributed the removal of the videos to “technical reasons”.