Centre Directs Meta to Act Against Deepfakes and CSAM Content on Social Media

The Central government held discussions with a delegation from Meta over the presence of deepfake videos and child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on social media platforms. During the meetings, officials directed Meta to take effective action against deepfake content and stressed that social media companies must take responsibility for content hosted and distributed through their platforms. Officials also questioned Meta representatives about the company’s compliance with Indian laws and sought details about Instagram’s content recommendation algorithms.

Meta responded to the concerns raised by the government and said it has several mechanisms to identify and restrict harmful deepfake content on its platforms. The government is reviewing the outcome of the meetings and is expected to announce further steps after assessing the responses. Officials are also examining whether other major social media platforms are complying with Indian regulations. The discussions were held in the backdrop of a Meta delegation visiting India, led by its Global Affairs chief Joel Kaplan, following a summons related to the temporary restriction of a video message released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Facebook. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other senior officials participated in the discussions.