The Indian government has summoned Meta's global team to the country on August 5 and 6, with IT secretary S Krishnan saying that several concerns, including the handling of child sexual abuse material and wrongful action against prominent accounts, will be raised during the discussions. Krishnan said leading technology companies such as Meta must ensure that their systems function as intended and address concerns related to platform accountability.
Meeting follows Modi Facebook post restriction
The meeting gains significance in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post on India's youth and the government's promise of stringent action against paper leaks being briefly restricted on the platform. The incident triggered sharp questions from the government over how Meta's content moderation systems function and why a post from a verified, high profile account was taken down without adequate safeguards.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of an independent multimodal AI initiative, Krishnan said the government wants to understand why some of Meta's systems have not been functioning the way they are meant to and what challenges the company is facing in fixing them.
CSAM concerns take centre stage
Krishnan said the child sexual abuse material issue remains a key point of concern, along with questions on synthetically generated content and the extent to which Meta is monitoring it. The government had earlier issued a notice to Meta after reports surfaced of child sexual exploitative and abuse material appearing in paid advertisements on Instagram, and the upcoming meeting is expected to press the company on what corrective measures it has since put in place.
Safeguards for verified accounts
Another issue on the agenda is the treatment of verified accounts belonging to prominent personalities. Krishnan said that when content from such accounts needs to be taken down, there must be adequate safeguards in place before action is taken, a concern that stems directly from the temporary restriction placed on the Prime Minister's post.
Separately, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police have registered cases against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and certain Facebook and Instagram accounts over allegedly morphed and AI generated posts targeting the Prime Minister, adding another layer of scrutiny to the company's operations in India ahead of the meeting.
Algorithmic bias and public order also on the table
Multiple reports have indicated that Meta's global team will also be questioned on issues of algorithmic bias, how its content ranking and moderation algorithms operate, and the company's broader role in maintaining public order on its platforms. The team is also expected to appear before a parliamentary panel during its visit.
Meta has previously written to the government detailing the enhanced safeguards it had put in place for content posted by the Prime Minister and other prominent accounts, though officials say those explanations have not fully addressed the government's concerns.
