Zuckerberg apologises over Meta lapses, India questions intermediary status

Meta representatives acknowledged that large sums were spent to promote certain types of content and expressed regret over the company's mistakes

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfake content and lapses in the platform's operations, PTI reported on Wednesday, citing sources after the company's global team met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

 

During the meeting, Indian officials told Meta that the company cannot be treated as an "intermediary" under the law, saying the platform decides which users receive specific content, according to the report.

 

Meta representatives also acknowledged that large sums were spent to promote certain types of content and expressed regret over the company's mistakes, the report said.

 

Meta's team, including Global Affairs officer Joel Kaplan, met Vaishnaw on Wednesday and also held a separate meeting with IT Secretary S Krishnan.

 

 

The meetings came after the government summoned Meta's top global executives over the temporary removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook post addressing Indian youth and promising strict action against paper leaks.

 

Meta had earlier said the post was removed due to a technical error and apologised for the incident. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) said the explanation was "inadequate". The company later restored the post, saying it had been removed "in error".