NEW DELHI: Meta’s platforms must comply with Indian law and cannot be governed solely by the company’s global policies, government sources said on Sunday following a series of meetings between the social media giant and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Officials also clarified that it would be factually incorrect to say the government had “directed Meta to completely overhaul its algorithm”.The government’s focus, according to sources, is on ensuring that Meta’s content policies, platform guidelines and moderation systems are aligned with Indian law. While concerns remain, officials said the discussions are aimed at securing concrete changes from the company rather than simply seeking assurances.ANI sources said India’s cultural context is not always fully understood by teams based outside the country. They said Meta needs greater local input, including stronger understanding of Indian languages and cultural nuances, to improve content moderation in India.The latest clarification came after a meeting on Friday between Meta’s technical team and MeitY officials, during which the company explained its existing systems for handling harmful content online. Technical discussions between the two sides remain underway, with another round of meetings expected next week, sources said.On child sexual abuse material (CSAM), government sources told ANI that there is zero tolerance and zero compromise.Officials said allowing such material to remain on Meta’s platforms would amount to a serious violation of rules. They said the company needs to adopt stronger and more proactive measures, with concrete action expected instead of assurances.The issue was also raised during earlier meetings between Meta’s global team and government officials, amid wider concerns over the company’s content moderation systems.The government has also raised concerns over deepfakes involving prominent personalities.ANI sources said content posted from authorised or verified handles should not be incorrectly identified as deepfakes. Officials said such sensitive cases cannot be left entirely to automated detection systems and called for a “human-in-the-loop” mechanism to ensure content is properly reviewed before any takedown.The government has also questioned Meta over synthetically generated content that reappears after being identified and removed as a deepfake.Officials have sought details from Meta on the concrete steps it is taking to prevent such content from resurfacing after removal.Meta’s recommendation and virality algorithms have also come under scrutiny during the discussions.ANI sources said the government questioned why users are frequently shown content unrelated to their stated interests and whether this points to shortcomings in Meta’s recommendation systems.Officials also asked why synthetically generated content continues to be amplified through the company’s algorithms.The government has insisted that once such content is flagged, it should not be recommended further or repeatedly resurface on the platform, sources said.The issue of Meta’s recommendation systems had also figured in earlier meetings with IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior ministry officials, when the company’s global team was questioned about its algorithms and compliance with Indian laws.The latest discussions follow several rounds of engagement between Meta and the Indian government over deepfakes, CSAM, bot accounts, synthetic content and the company’s compliance with Indian laws.According to earlier reports, Meta’s technical team had explained its proposed measures to address the concerns raised by the government and said it had solutions to tackle deepfakes, CSAM and bot accounts.
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The government has also been examining Meta’s compliance with intermediary provisions under Indian law, including the conditions governing safe-harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.The Centre had earlier sought action against deepfake content and was examining whether Meta’s role in determining what content users see could have implications for its status as an intermediary.The latest discussions, however, have focused on the technical functioning of Meta’s systems and how its global policies are implemented in India.As the talks continue, government sources said the objective is not to demand a complete overhaul of Meta’s algorithm but to ensure that its platforms, content policies and moderation mechanisms comply with Indian law and adequately account for India’s linguistic and cultural context.