The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked Meta to submit a detailed compliance roadmap explaining how it plans to strengthen content moderation, curb the spread of propaganda and deepfakes, remove unlawful material faster and comply with India’s data requirements, government sources said.
The directions reportedly followed meetings between senior government officials and Meta’s global technical team on August 5 and 6, during which officials questioned the company’s handling of manipulated content, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), recommendation algorithms and verified accounts.
The Centre has specifically sought algorithmic changes to limit the amplification of harmful or unlawful content, rather than relying only on post-by-post removals.
Meta’s global affairs chief Joel Kaplan had earlier apologised to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the temporary restriction of a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly apologised to the Indian government over CSAM, deepfake content and operational lapses on the platforms.
Centre Seeks Algorithmic Safeguards
The government’s latest demand marks a shift from simply asking Meta to remove individual pieces of problematic content to examining how its platforms recommend and amplify information.
According to government sources, Meta has been asked to make changes to its recommendation systems so that propaganda, deepfakes, manipulated media and other unlawful material do not gain widespread visibility before they can be detected and removed.
Officials also want the company to accelerate action on content flagged by authorised government agencies and establish stronger coordination with government Quick Response Teams (QRTs) to enable faster detection and removal of deepfakes and morphed content.
IT Secretary S. Krishnan had earlier said officials wanted to understand why Meta’s systems had failed in specific cases and what technical challenges the company was facing. The government has also sought compliance with India’s data-localisation requirements.
The emphasis is significant because recommendation algorithms can determine what millions of users see; if harmful material is repeatedly promoted because it attracts engagement, removing it later may not undo the damage caused by its initial reach.
Deepfakes Trigger Regulatory Push
The latest scrutiny comes amid India’s wider effort to strengthen safeguards against AI-generated and manipulated content. The amended IT Rules introduced specific obligations around synthetically generated information, requiring significant social media intermediaries to take technical measures against unlawful synthetic content and clearly label other AI-generated material.
The rules also require such platforms to obtain user declarations about whether uploaded material is synthetically generated and use reasonable technical measures to verify those declarations. Separately, India’s intermediary framework has tightened the response timelines for certain unlawful content.
When platforms receive valid notice through a court order or authorised government agency, unlawful information is required to be removed or access disabled within three hours, while certain forms of intimate or sexually explicit manipulated material can trigger a two-hour response requirement.
The developments involving Meta follow several recent controversies, including the temporary restriction of a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which Meta described as an operational error, as well as government concerns over CSAM appearing in paid advertisements on Instagram. Meta has said it has a zero-tolerance policy towards CSAM and is strengthening its detection systems.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The government’s push for stronger safeguards against deepfakes, CSAM, propaganda and unlawful content is important at a time when technology can make false information look increasingly convincing and allow harmful material to spread within minutes. Platforms with enormous reach must be accountable for how their systems amplify content, while governments must also ensure that efforts to tackle misinformation do not become a route for suppressing legitimate criticism, journalism, political debate or satire.
The answer cannot simply be more removals or more government control; it must involve transparent rules, accountable algorithms, meaningful human oversight, independent safeguards and clear avenues for users to challenge wrongful takedowns.
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