Metaverse

Meta India head Sandhya Devanathan to join OpenAI in regional role

Devanathan will be based in Singapore and oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulatory engagement and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia

Meta's new teen safety rules: What changes on Instagram and Facebook

The new protections will first apply in participating US states and territories, subject to judicial approval. Meta has not announced these measures as a global rollout

Meta's campaign on teen safeguards puts TikTok, YouTube, Snap on back foot

In a public callout to TikTok and YouTube that included a plan to publish open letters in newspapers, Meta said it's seeking to set a 'new industry standard'

Meta's $18 billion social media settlement: Numbers behind the deal

Of the overall amount, the company has pledged to shell out about $12.7 billion in installments to states over the next 10 years as a starting point

How Meta decides when AI can remove posts and when humans step in

Meta's automated systems do not send every flagged post to a human reviewer at the same stage. Its technology helps determine which content should be reviewed by people and in what order

Need a human touch: Govt tells Meta not to leave takedowns solely to AI

The government has asked Meta to ensure human review in AI-led content moderation, warning that keyword-based takedowns can remove legitimate posts without context

Meta rejects claims it sought to hook children to Facebook, Instagram

4 lead states - California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey - accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook young users

Govt pressure on CSAM prompts Meta to step up action, sensitivity

The government's hard talk with Meta has led to action and increased sensitivity on the issue of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), IT Ministry sources said on Tuesday, adding that the Centre has been unequivocal that such content is a clear violation and there is no safe harbour when law is violated in this manner. Sources said the government's intent is not about censorship or restricting coverage in any way, but ensuring Indian laws and norms are followed and that social media harms are mitigated. "The message has gone home," they said. During discussions, Meta explained how its algorithms and systems work, ministry sources said, noting that discussions are on and such matters involve "judgment calls, and tweaks". On the WhatsApp username row, sources said the matter is under examination as it doesn't involve just that particular platform, but other messaging apps as well. Sources said concerns over social media harms is not something specific only to India, it is a concern sha

Meta faces landmark US trial over child safety on Facebook, Instagram

Of the thousands of lawsuits Meta faces over child safety on its platforms, none may be more consequential than one going to trial this week in California. US states are seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total as much as USD 1.4 trillion, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram. The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that get children addicted to its platforms. It also claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents' consent, in violation of federal law. "Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximise its financial gains," the lawsuit says. Dozens of states filed the lawsuit three years ago. The trial set to begin Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, features four of

Meta's Rights Manager: Why its copyright access is under scrutiny in court

Meta said Rights Manager allows copyright owners to upload and maintain a reference library of content they want to monitor and protect

5 key takeaways from Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word manifesto on AI

Zuckerberg's letter is the latest entry in the broader genre of manifestos from AI executives laying out their visions for the emerging technology

US court orders Meta to pay $567 mn over harms to children's mental health

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay USD 567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial the social media giant lost in March. In a ruling late Thursday, Judge Bryan Biedcheid said the bulk of the money - USD 420 million - will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years. In the first phase, jurors had ordered USD 375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In the second phase, prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight. The court said federal ...

Bombay HC orders removal of defamatory posts against Nitin Gadkari

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim relief to Union minister Nitin Gadkari, ordering Meta, X and Google to immediately remove all the "vile, abusive, obscene and defamatory" social media posts targeting him. A single-judge bench of Justice Arif Doctor issued the direction while hearing a civil defamation suit filed by the Minister for Road Transport and Highways challenging a series of AI-generated deepfake videos and manipulated digital posts that falsely alleged Gadkari and his family received illegal financial benefits from the Centre's ethanol-blended petrol (E20) initiative. "These posts, on the face of it, are abusive, vile, and obscene," Justice Doctor said, adding, "The material on the face of it is absolutely vile and abusive. Such material should have no place on a public platform, which is accessible to everyone, including the younger generation." The bench directed Meta, X Corp and Google LLC to ensure forthwith that the posts are taken down. Justice Doct

Meta team meets IT Ministry officials after summons over PM's post removal

Meta global team on Wednesday met top IT Ministry officials, following government summons over the removal of PM Narendra Modi's post on Facebook. Wrongful action on prominent post and lapses in curbing child sexual abuse material on social media platform were among the concerns raised by the government. Top Meta executives, including Global Affairs officer Joel Kaplan, met IT secretary S Krishnan and other senior officials of Meity in a discussion that lasted 45 minutes. The team is also slated to meet Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw later today. The meeting is significant as the government had summoned Meta's top global executives after Prime Minister Modi's recent Facebook post addressing Indian youth and promising stringent action against paper leaks was briefly restricted on the platform. While the US-headquartered social media giant had attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had found th

Parliament panel seeks Zuckerberg apology over PM Modi video removal

A Parliamentary standing committee on Wednesday demanded an apology from Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech being removed from Facebook. In a letter to the secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT, a director of the Lok Sabha secretariat said protection and immunity for Zuckerberg may be withdrawn if there is no apology in three days. "The removal of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's video addressing students and Gen Z regarding examination controversies and strict actions against paper leaks from Facebook for 5-6 hours viewed very seriously by the Committee," said the letter signed by A Jyothirmayi. The panel has also sought government of India action against Google India head over investors losing more than Rs 48 lakh through fraud apps. "The Committee while discussing Hyderabad Cyber Police Action against the Google India Head as a co-accused along with the Cyber fraudsters after the complainants alleged that they lost more than Rs.48 lakhs

Govt to question Meta on CSAM, WhatsApp username issue, account takedowns

Senior executives are likely to be questioned on child sexual abuse material, synthetic content, impersonation risks and safeguards for prominent and verified accounts

Govt to raise CSAM lapses, account action issues with Meta team on Aug 5-6

The government will raise a number of issues, including lapses in tackling of CSAM as well as wrongful action on prominent account during the upcoming meeting with Meta's global team, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday, adding that a company at the forefront of technology should have been able to make its systems work as they are supposed to. Meta's global team will be in India on August 5 and 6, Krishnan said. The upcoming meeting is significant as the government has summoned Meta's top global executives after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent Facebook post addressing India's youth and promising stringent action against paper leaks, was briefly restricted on the platform. Meta has also been under regulatory scrutiny over Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, and the government had earlier slapped a notice on Meta over the issue. "There are a range of issues...the CSAM issue was raised, so what measures have been taken ..

WhatsApp puts multiple accounts under review, blocks all app features

Instant messaging app WhatsApp on Monday put multiple accounts, including those in India, "under review" for 24 hours and blocked all the app features, prompting several affected users to flag the issue through social media. The disruption was noticed around 8 pm IST when users started facing the issue without any prior warning from the Meta group's messaging app. The WhatsApp app on the screen displayed the message: "Account in review. Date requested: 3 Aug 2026. Your account activity and device info is being checked to make sure it follows our terms of service. We will notify you of the result typically within 24 hours." Below these remarks, the app shows an option to learn about account issues, which include "How to use WhatsApp responsibly. See guidance" and an option "About stolen phone and accounts". Some of the users on social media posted different messages. "My WhatsApp account has been disabled without any explanation. I have already submitted an appeal, but the review p

Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI to meet Trump officials about AI safety testing

Anthropic and OpenAI disclosed in recent days that their AI tools breached the systems of other companies, stirring concerns among US ‌lawmakers

US govt should not block Chinese models to gain edge in AI race: Zuckerberg

The Trump administration ‌on Tuesday unveiled bans ​that target imports of ‌new Chinese robots and power inverters, seeking to protect ‌the US AI buildout from national security threats