Meta’s Zuckerberg apologises to India over child abuse, deepfake content

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised to the Indian government over the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content, and operational lapses on the company’s platforms. Government sources said authorities warned Meta that its role in selecting and distributing content could disqualify it from “safe harbour” protections under the IT Act.

New Delhi: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday apologised over the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and shortcomings in the operation of the company’s platforms.

According to government sources, Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns raised by the government regarding the spread of objectionable and manipulated content and expressed regret over what were described as errors in the operation of the platform.

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“Mark Zuckerberg sent his apologies for the CSAM content, deepfake content and errors in operating the platform,” government sources said.

Sources further claimed that it was communicated to the company that its role in selecting and distributing content to users could place it outside the definition of a neutral intermediary under Indian law.

They said authorities made it clear that the “safe harbour” protections available under the Information Technology Act may not be applicable if a platform is found to be actively determining which content reaches users.

“It was made clear to them that they are not covered under Intermediary definition. They select who receives the content. Safe harbour under IT Act not applicable. They admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting certain type of content. They apologised and regretted the mistake,” the sources added.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, IT Ministry sources said that social media platforms, including Meta, must comply with the law of the land as a parliamentary panel asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to issue an “unqualified apology” within three days over the brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post recently.

Meta stands to lose its “safe harbour protection” in India if it fails to do so in the stipulated deadline, the IT Ministry sources added earlier in the day.

A high-level Meta delegation met IT Secretary S. Krishnan in the national capital to discuss the erroneous takedown of the Prime Minister’s video. They were also scheduled to meet Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.