{
  "id": 15594399,
  "title": "MeitY Asks Meta To Review Content Recommendation Algorithms",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/meity-asks-meta-to-review-content-recommendation-algorithms",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-19T09:36:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Inc42",
    "slug": "inc42",
    "url": "https://inc42.com/buzz/meity-asks-meta-to-review-content-recommendation-algorithms/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On October 10, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) sent a directive to Meta, the company behind Instagram and Facebook, requesting a review of its content recommendation algorithms. The advisory aimed to prevent excessive exposure to limited perspectives and improve checks on content that might incite public unrest or violence. MeitY emphasized the importance of providing users with diverse, credible information through its recommendation systems.\n\nThe advisory called for Meta to ensure that photos, videos, graphics, and other content depicting ongoing public events included adequate context, especially when their authenticity, dates, locations, or circumstances were unclear to users. It also urged the company to review its content-ranking mechanisms to prevent misleading, manipulated, or out-of-context material from being overly amplified or repeatedly recommended to users.\n\nMeitY wanted Meta to prioritize timely identification, review, and escalation of content that gained significant traction through its recommendation systems and had the potential to cause widespread confusion, apprehension, violence, or disturbances in public order. The advisory invoked the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the IT Rules, 2021, which mandate intermediaries to exercise due diligence and inform users about prohibited content.\n\nThe advisory was prompted by concerns over Meta's content recommendation algorithms, allegedly favoring certain types of content over others. However, digital rights advocates criticized the advisory, viewing it as a potential threat to freedom of expression and content moderation. Apar Gupta, founder-director of the Internet Freedom Foundation, termed the advisory a \"continuing censorship directive\" and urged MeitY to withdraw it while calling on Meta to publicly disclose all takedowns and downrankings in response.",
  "summary": "The Centre has asked Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook, to review its recommendation algorithms to prevent disproportionate exposure to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}