Android does not respect meta tag deletion?

You are actually deleting meta tags (you can verify through DOM - try reminding $("#metatag"). Length after deletion)

The problem is that the viewport itself cannot respond to the missing content in this tag. If you update the content or re add the meta tag with new content, you should see its list on the screen. However, by simply deleting the meta tag, UA seems to think that "no change is required" because there are no explicit instructions there

Hope to help! Your question / example made me realize that it is even possible!