NEW DELHI — Meta's platforms must comply with Indian law and cannot be governed solely by the company's global policies, according to government sources cited by news agency ANI. The statement follows meetings between Meta's technical team and officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Government officials clarified that they have not directed Meta to completely overhaul its algorithm. Instead, discussions are focused on ensuring Meta's content policies, guidelines, and moderation systems align with Indian law and account for local linguistic and cultural nuances.

Key issues highlighted during the discussions include:

• Zero Tolerance for CSAM: Officials emphasized zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material, stating that allowing such content to remain online is a serious legal violation.
• Human Oversight for Deepfakes: The government requested a "human-in-the-loop" mechanism to review sensitive cases, ensuring verified handles are not incorrectly flagged as deepfakes.
• Reappearing Synthetic Content: MeitY questioned Meta on why synthetically generated deepfakes continue to resurface and get amplified by recommendation algorithms after being removed.
• Safe-Harbour Compliance: Authorities are examining Meta's compliance under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act regarding intermediary safe-harbour protections.

Officials noted that Meta requires stronger local input and better understanding of Indian languages to improve content moderation. Technical discussions between both sides remain ongoing, with another round of meetings expected next week.