The government has called Meta’s global team to India for meetings on August 5 and 6, and IT secretary S Krishnan said that several issues will be discussed, including the platform’s handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and alleged wrongful actions against high-profile accounts.
Krishnan stated that major technology firms like Meta must guarantee their systems operate as designed and tackle issues concerning platform accountability.
The forthcoming meeting is particularly significant because the government has summoned Meta’s senior global executives for talks only days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post aimed at India’s youth and vowing tough measures against exam paper leaks was temporarily limited on the platform.
Meta has come under regulatory scrutiny for child sexual abuse content appearing in paid advertisements on Instagram, after the government previously issued a notice to the company regarding the issue.
Krishnan stated that the government plans to raise multiple issues with Meta, including its measures to address CSAM, its oversight of synthetic content, and the protections in place when removing posts from verified accounts belonging to high-profile individuals.
"We would like to understand from them (Meta) as to why some of these things have not been working the way they are supposed to work, and what are the challenges," he added.
He stated that as a major global technology firm, Meta ought to possess the capabilities needed to tackle such problems effectively.