'Can't Run As Per US Law': Govt, Meta To Hold More Rounds Of Meets; WhatsApp, Algorithms And Compliance Concerns In Focus

The face-off between the government and Meta over a brief removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's video from Facebook has snowballed into a major scrutiny drill for the social media giant as the ongoing government questioning from the Meta global team is likely to continue for 3-4 days. The questioning is said to include concerns related to WhatsApp, Meta platforms' algorithms and compliance with the law of the land.

Meta Global Affairs head Joel Kaplan, who arrived from the US, on Wednesday met Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and extended a written apology over the incident. Meta also apologised to the Indian government for CSAM (Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material), deepfake content and boosting certain content by being paid "a lot of money", and errors in operating the platform.

On Thursday, another meeting between IT Minister Vaishnaw and the Meta global team was scheduled.

The government sources told news agency ANI that three to four additional meetings are expected to take place between the Meta team and the government. The upcoming round of discussions will also cover issues related to WhatsApp.

ALSO READ: 'Don't Bow Down To PM': Arvind Kejriwal Alleges His Social Media Accounts Restricted; Seeks Clarification From Meta

The central agenda of these meetings is to assess whether Meta’s platforms are complying with Indian laws.

"Platforms can't be run in India as per US law. These are technical matters; every aspect is to be understood. The aim is to employ law for the benefit of our society. All platforms have a responsibility towards society and the law, like all institutions. Meta has already given a public statement; technical details are to be discussed today, along with logs. We are in regular talks with all major platforms like Meta, X, and Telegram," the sources were quoted as saying.

ALSO READ: Meta Apologises Over PM's Video Removal, Child Sexual Abuse Material; Admits 'Money Paid To Boost Certain Content'

The tech giant will also be quizzed on whether the compliance mechanism has sufficient checks and balances, and guardrails to meet constitutional and legal requirements, as per news agency PTI.