According to government sources, it has been made clear to Meta officials that there won't be any safe harbour for Child Sexual Abuse Material on its platforms
and that action taken against CSAM content has been "cautious" from Meta's side. The government has come down heavy on Meta's action against CSAM, calling out the tech giant for being cautious regarding the filtering of unlawful content, said sources. Sources also said, that the Government has only exercised powers which have been given under the legal framework. "Content moderation teams need to have sensitivity to India's context," they added. On the issue of WhatsApp usernames, sources said the matter is being examined from an industry-wide perspective, as it is not applicable to just one company. The government will continue to watch and track concerns related to the issue. Sources said the government is not trying to censor or keep out any content, but its intent is to ensure that social media platforms do not create a situation that is adverse to India's social framework. They added that some concerns have been expressed by Western liberal democracies, but cultural contexts differ and reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech are applicable. On synthetically generated information, sources said such content has to be labelled, as users have a right to know whether a particular piece of content is synthetic or not. Meta is also facing a legal battle back home, as US state governments have accused Instagram and Facebook of designing addictive platforms to keep young users hooked online. According to reports, opening arguments are set to startin a federal court in Oakland in a case led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 29 state attorneys general. Notably, the case may have wider financial consequences for Meta. This ruling could eventually force Mark Zuckerberg’s firm to make wider changes to how its social media platforms work.
