New Delhi: The government has raised concerns with Meta over child sexual abuse material, AI-generated content and content moderation standards in India,
according to government sources familiar with discussions with company officials. Officials said Meta has shown greater sensitivity on CSAM-related material and is taking a more cautious approach to filtering unlawful content.
Government sources said authorities have acted only within the existing legal and statutory framework. They also stressed that content moderation teams need a better understanding of Indian languages and cultural context, instead of relying only on global moderation standards.
Govt warns over safe harbour in CSAM cases
According to government sources, Meta has increased efforts to identify and filter unlawful CSAM-related content.
Officials said the government has made it clear that safe harbour protections will not be available to individuals or persons involved in CSAM-related violations.
Sources said, “The Govt has only exercised powers granted under the existing legal and statutory framework, no action has been taken outside this framework.”
The government also wants moderation teams to have greater sensitivity towards India’s linguistic and cultural context.
WhatsApp username issue being examined
The government is also looking at the WhatsApp username issue from a wider industry perspective.
Sources said the matter is not limited to one company and applies across messaging platforms. The government plans to continue tracking these concerns.
Officials said, “Govt’s intent is not to censor or suppress content, but to ensure social media platforms don’t create situations adverse to India’s social fabric.”
The government also pointed out that similar debates around platform regulation have emerged in Western democracies.
Govt wants clear labels for AI-generated content
AI-generated or synthetic content was another key issue discussed with Meta.
Government sources said, “Synthetically generated content (AI-generated content) must be clearly labelled.”
Officials described such labelling as part of a user’s right to know whether an image, video or other content is synthetic or authentic.
The discussions come as governments globally increase scrutiny of social media platforms over harmful content, artificial intelligence and online safety. In India, officials indicated that cultural context, constitutional limits on speech and platform accountability will continue to shape how such issues are handled.
