The Indian government is questioning whether Meta's recommendation systems and paid content promotion align with its status as an intermediary under the IT Act, raising concerns about the company's liability for content it actively decides to show users.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has issued an apology for the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post, while company executives acknowledged significant content moderation failures, including issues with child sexual abuse material, deepfakes, and the paid boosting of certain content.
The government is questioning the visiting Meta team on whether the company is adhering to the law of the land, following summons to the social media giant over temporary restriction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post recently, sources said on Thursday.
The government on Tuesday brought in stricter obligations for online platforms on handling AI-generated and synthetic content, including deepfakes, saying platforms such as X and Instagram must take down within three hours any such content flagged by a competent authority or courts.
A parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology has demanded a personal apology from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video from Facebook. The committee also discussed potential legal action and the withdrawal of safe harbour protection, while questioning Meta officials on algorithmic bias and accountability.
Microblogging platform X has implemented technological measures to prevent its Grok AI chatbot from generating images of real people in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where it is illegal, following government pressure over obscene deepfakes.
X has accepted its mistake, and said it will comply with Indian laws, sources said, adding that in future, the platform will not allow obscene imagery.
A Molotov cocktail of lies, abuse and bigotry is blowing up social media.
