New Delhi: The government has stressed that Meta's platforms operating in India must comply with the country's laws and regulations, with recent discussions focusing on aligning the company's content policies and moderation practices with Indian legal requirements rather than relying solely on its global standards, government sources said on Sunday.
Sources said it would be factually inaccurate to claim that the government had asked Meta to completely overhaul its recommendation algorithms. Instead, the discussions have centred on ensuring that Meta's content policies, enforcement systems and broader platform governance are consistent with India's legal framework.
One of the key concerns raised by the government is the limited understanding of India's cultural and linguistic diversity among Meta teams based outside the country, according to the sources. Officials have called for stronger local expertise, including greater familiarity with Indian languages and cultural contexts, to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of content moderation decisions.
The government has also taken a firm position on Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), making it clear that such content cannot be tolerated on digital platforms.
Sources said the presence of CSAM amounts to a serious violation of applicable regulations and that Meta is expected to strengthen its safeguards and adopt more proactive measures to identify and remove such material. Officials stressed that the company would need to demonstrate concrete action rather than merely provide assurances.
Deepfake content was another major issue discussed during the engagements. Government sources said material posted through authorised or verified accounts should not be incorrectly identified as deepfakes by automated moderation systems.
Given the sensitivity of such cases, officials have advocated a "human-in-the-loop" mechanism under which content would undergo human review before a decision to remove it is taken.
The government has also sought clarification on the recurrence of synthetically generated content after it has already been identified and removed as a deepfake.
According to the sources, Meta has been asked to explain what measures it is taking to prevent such content from reappearing or being redistributed on its platforms after removal.
With IANS inputs