Meta Must Follow Indian Law, Not Just Global Policies: Govt Sources

Government sources have made it clear that Meta's social media platforms must adhere to Indian laws and regulations, rather than simply adhering to the company's global policies. Recent discussions with Meta aimed to ensure its content moderation practices and policies align with Indian legal requirements, not just the global standards it follows.

The government rejected the notion that it had ordered Meta to fundamentally change its recommendation algorithms. Instead, the focus of ongoing talks has been on making Meta's content policies, enforcement measures, and platform governance comply with Indian legal mandates. One key concern raised by the government is the limited understanding of India's cultural and linguistic diversity among Meta's teams based outside the country.

To improve content moderation, Meta needs to enhance its local expertise, including a better understanding of Indian languages and cultural subtleties. The government strongly condemned Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), stressing that such content has no place on digital platforms and that Meta must implement stronger safeguards to detect and eliminate it.

The government emphasized that substantive action, rather than mere promises, is required to address this issue. Deepfake content was also a major point of discussion. Government sources insisted that content from verified or authorized accounts should not be mistakenly labeled as deepfakes by automated systems. A "human-in-the-loop" review process was advocated to ensure thorough examination of such content before any removal decision is made.

The government expressed worry about deepfakes resurfacing on the platform even after being identified and removed. Meta was asked to explain its measures for preventing the recurrence and redistribution of such content after removal.