Meta must follow Indian law, not just global rules: Govt sources after MeitY talks

Meta's platforms must be governed by Indian law, not merely by the company's global policies, government sources told news agency ANI on Sunday.

They noted that it would be factually inaccurate to say that the government had "directed Meta to completely overhaul its algorithm."

While certain concerns remain, officials said the core intent of recent engagements with Meta is to ensure the platform's guidelines and content policies are fully aligned with Indian law.

Sources told ANI that India's cultural context is often not fully understood by teams based outside the country, and that Meta needs greater local input including a stronger grasp of Indian languages and cultural nuance to moderate content effectively.

On Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)

On the issue of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), government sources were unequivocal, stating there is zero tolerance and zero compromise on such content.

Allowing such material to remain on the platform amounts to a serious violation of rules, they said, adding that Meta must adopt stronger, more proactive measures, with concrete action expected rather than assurances alone.

On deepfakes

Referring to deepfakes involving prominent personalities, sources said content posted from authorised or verified handles should not be misidentified as deepfakes.

They noted that such sensitive cases cannot be left entirely to automated detection systems, and called for a "human-in-the-loop" mechanism to ensure proper review before any takedown action.

On synthetically generated content, officials raised concerns over the repeated reappearance of material already identified and removed as deepfakes. Meta has been asked to specify what concrete steps it is taking to prevent such content from resurfacing after removal.

Govt seeks clarity on Meta's recommendation and virality algorithms

The government sought clarity on Meta's recommendation and virality algorithms, questioning why users are frequently shown content unrelated to their stated interests, news agency ANI reported.

Sources said this points to underlying flaws in the recommendation system that need to be understood and addressed.

Meta was specifically asked why synthetically generated content continues to be amplified by its algorithm, with officials insisting that once such content is flagged, it should neither be recommended further nor allowed to resurface repeatedly.

The clarifications came after a meeting on Friday between Meta's technical team and officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), during which the company's representatives walked through existing systems for handling harmful content online. Technical discussions between the two sides are ongoing, with both parties agreeing to continue talks. Another round of meetings is expected in the coming week.

(With inputs from ANI)