On day 3, MeitY-Meta technical teams hold talks on platform algorithms

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) convened a third round of discussions with Meta's technical team on Friday, focusing on the platform algorithms, officials revealed. These technical talks, set to continue for the next few days, were held at Electronics Niketan under the chairmanship of MeitY Secretary S Krishnan, as per a senior government official.

The deliberations are part of the ongoing engagement between the Indian government and Meta, following the temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook Reel on July 28. This incident, which caused confusion and raised concerns about Meta's content moderation systems and safeguards for high-profile accounts, led to Meta's global delegation, headed by chief global affairs officer Joel Kaplan, meeting Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday and Thursday.

They apologized for the restriction, attributing it to an error in Meta's automated systems, which mistakenly matched Modi's Reel with another video. The government has sought a deeper understanding of Meta's algorithms, content moderation policies, and compliance mechanisms, specifically the checks and safeguards that determine which content is restricted or removed in India.

A senior IT ministry official confirmed that while the global delegation returns after its meetings, Meta's technical team will stay in India for these additional discussions, which are expected to last three to four days. Meta and MeitY have yet to comment on the matter.