Meta restricts access in India to viral AI video of Keralam CM dancing with KSEB officials

Meta has restricted access in India to a viral AI-generated video showing Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan dancing with KSEB officials over the recent power crisis, the video's creators said on Monday. Satheesan had recently referred to the video at an event organised by the Kerala High Court, saying he was excited to see it and claiming that he could dance better than Malayalam Superstar Mohanlal and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, an actor-turned-politician.

The video shows Satheesan dancing with Kerala State Electricity Board officials and was created using artificial intelligence, according to the page. Also Read | CM Satheesan thanks AP Deputy CM for choosing Keralam for his Aurvedic treatment In a post on Sunday, 'aikavala' said access to the video had been restricted in India after Meta complied with a legal request.

"We have restricted access to your content in India pursuant to notice from the Government of India," a message from Meta shared by the creators said. Abhijith, who runs the Instagram page, told reporters that he did not believe the restriction was due to any objection from the chief minister's side.

"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 said. "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 a disclaimer had been added to the video, which he said was why it had not been taken down completely. Asked whether his team planned to take any steps to challenge the restriction, Abhijith said they had not decided yet.

"People everywhere have embraced it. We view that widespread acceptance itself as a major achievement," he said. Satheesan referred to the video and his earlier remarks again on Monday while speaking 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 although the video was partly intended to mock him, he was happy about it.

"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. "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. Earlier, Meta had removed news videos critical of the state government and Satheesan. Satheesan had then denied that any request to remove the posts had been made from his office.