New Delhi:
The presence of paid content linked to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Instagram has brought the Indian government and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta into a broader discussion on how global social media platforms can strengthen safeguards while complying with Indian law, with officials saying the dialogue between the social media giant and the Centre will continue.
Officials have sought explanations from Meta and stressed that unlawful CSAM content cannot be protected by safe-harbour provisions, while the company has outlined its use of automated systems and human reviewers to detect and act against child exploitation.
“On CSAM, the position is very clear and unequivocal – if this kind of unlawful content is appearing on the platform, safe harbour cannot be taken for granted,” a government official said, according to sources.
“The important thing is to understand what happened, what action was taken and how the recurrence of such content is being addressed. Meta has told the government it has acted on these concerns.”
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The broader regulatory approach, officials said, should not be viewed simply through the lens of “government censorship”.
“Social media platforms operating in India are expected to follow Indian laws and avoid creating situations that are adverse to the country’s social norms, while regulators must also seek the right balance between legitimate restrictions and freedom of expression,” the official mentioned above added.
Officials said the immediate objective was to understand the issues around CSAM and ensure that action is taken against such material.
“Safe harbour, where the requirements of the law are not met, can lead to consequences, including loss of that protection,” the official said, adding that “ultimately, whether safe harbour applies in a particular case will be for the courts to decide.”
The discussions, which have spanned over three weeks, have also focused on how Meta’s algorithms work, including the structure and functioning of its systems, how decisions are made and where human judgment comes into the process. Officials said it was important to understand how algorithmic systems operate in practice, including the adjustments and judgement calls that can influence what users see.
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Officials said Meta had indicated that it was dealing with the recurrence of content that is considered unlawful. They said the discussions were intended to better understand what happens within the platform’s systems and how that translates into what users ultimately see on social media.
Officials pointed to the need to consider the social value delivered by online platforms alongside harms such as addiction, gaming-related concerns and CSAM, while recognising that cultural contexts can differ. They also referred to constitutional provisions permitting reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression, as well as the freedom to carry on business.
Officials stressed that government powers are exercised lawfully and said Section 69A of the IT Act has been used sparingly.
Another area of discussion is synthetically generated information and how users can determine whether the content they are viewing is genuine or artificially generated.
Officials said there is acceptance of the need for appropriate labelling, including a requirement for individuals posting synthetic content to declare it, with large language models also potentially playing a role in identifying or labelling generated material, or the platform labelling it accordingly. The discussions also recognise the practical and compliance costs involved.
