Meta not just an 'intermediary', has greater responsibility: Govt

Government officials made the comments a day after Meta agreed to report child safety-related matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)

The Indian government is disinclined to treat Meta as simply an intermediary, PTI reported Wednesday, quoting government officials.

 

“Meta could no longer be viewed simply as an intermediary because its algorithms amplify content and determine its visibility,” sources told PTI.

 

Service providers have several responsibilities, and Meta will have to take greater responsibility after agreeing to directly report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to Indian law enforcement agencies, government sources told PTI on Wednesday.

 

The comments came a day after Meta agreed to report child safety-related matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). Until now, the company had primarily reported such cases to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

  

According to PTI, government sources said Meta had admitted to a mistake in handling child abuse content and has now committed to reporting such material to Indian law enforcement agencies.

 

“Every service provider has responsibility,” the government sources told PTI, adding that Meta’s decision marked a change in its position in the social media space.

Meta agrees to direct reporting to I4C

Meta said on Tuesday that it would report child safety matters directly to the I4C cybercrime portal.

 

“Protecting children on our platforms is a priority for us, and we’re committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible,” a Meta spokesperson said.

 

“To collectively strengthen our efforts to combat this harm, Meta will now report child safety matters directly to the Cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C),” the spokesperson said.

 

The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, operated under I4C, allows complaints involving child sexual abuse material and other cybercrimes against women and children to be reported online.

Government scrutiny over child abuse material

The move followed increased scrutiny of Meta over allegations involving child sexual exploitation and abuse material on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

 

In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered Instagram to disable advertisements and content promoting or facilitating access to child sexual exploitation and abuse material. The ministry also sought an explanation from Meta on how such advertisements had appeared on the platform.

 

Meta said at the time that it had a zero-tolerance policy towards soliciting or sharing child sexual abuse material, including through advertisements. The company also said its enforcement systems had identified and removed some of the violating advertisements and accounts.

 

Meta later said it was “categorically inaccurate” to suggest that it had knowingly and deliberately targeted advertisements featuring children at people based on an inappropriate interest in children.

 

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also summoned senior Meta India executives as part of its inquiry into the allegations.

 

(With inputs from PTI)