The government has examined whether Meta’s recommendation systems and paid content promotion align with its intermediary status under the IT Act. Officials indicated the central issue is whether the company complies with the law or acts as a publisher by determining what content reaches specific users. This matters because Section 79 provides safe harbour protection for intermediaries from liability over third-party content, provided they meet due diligence conditions. If Meta’s systems decide what appears to users and promote paid material, questions arise about consistency with the legal definition of an intermediary. Determining displayed content could amount to publishing, requiring platforms to assume responsibility. The government has directed Meta to address deepfakes after several recent meetings. Intermediaries must follow due diligence under Section 79 and the IT Rules 2021 to retain liability exemptions; non-compliance may lead to loss of protection and further action under applicable laws. Officials will assess the discussions before seeking legal opinion and will engage other platforms on the same questions. Recent talks covered deepfakes, child sexual abuse material, unlabelled synthetic content and recommendation system operations. Meta described plans to handle these issues, and the government will monitor progress. Key points included repeated circulation of flagged AI-generated harmful content and the continued visibility of unlabelled synthetic videos. The government requested greater human oversight in moderation along with improved understanding of Indian languages and local context. Another meeting is scheduled soon. The aim is compliance with Indian laws rather than censorship. Meta acknowledged serious issues and committed to ongoing actions. Its global affairs head met the IT Minister and Secretary this week following a summons over the temporary restriction of a post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The company apologised for that incident and other failures involving child sexual abuse content, deepfakes and paid promotion of certain material.
