Meta apologises to Indian government over platform lapses

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has expressed regret to the Indian government over the presence of child sexual abuse content, misleading deepfakes and various operational flaws on its platforms. According to Indian media reports, Meta representatives conveyed the message on behalf of CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a recent meeting with government officials.

Indian business outlet Manicontrol reported that Meta acknowledged the presence of illegal child sexual abuse content, misleading deepfakes and some operational vulnerabilities on its platforms during the meeting, and expressed remorse over these lapses. Meanwhile, NDTV reported that Meta officials also admitted that significant financial transactions had taken place to promote certain types of content, and that some illegal content was promoted on the platform. Meta officials may be summoned again for further questioning on the matter.

Meta did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the matter. Earlier in July, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology took a strong stance on the presence of child sexual abuse advertisements on Instagram, directing the company to immediately remove such content and submit an explanation within seven days on how such content had appeared on the platform.

Following that incident, Meta claimed it had a "zero tolerance" policy on child sexual abuse content and was strengthening its technological capabilities to detect and remove such content. Meanwhile, last month, the Indian Ministry of Information and Technology summoned Meta officials after a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was temporarily removed from Facebook. The company later apologised, describing it as an operational error.

According to a senior Indian police officer, a case has been filed against Meta India chief Arun Srinivas over allegations of posting objectionable videos about Narendra Modi on Facebook. At the same time, the Indian government has enforced stricter laws on social media regulation. Under the new provisions, illegal content identified by courts or the government must be removed within a maximum of three hours. Failure to do so within the stipulated timeframe could result in platforms losing legal protection and facing stricter accountability measures.