Meta 'more cautious' on child abuse matters after strong govt message

The government's hard talk with Meta has led to action on child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with the company now showing greater sensitivity and caution on such content, IT ministry sources said on Tuesday, asserting that the Centre has made it unequivocally clear that such content constitutes a violation and cannot be covered by safe-harbour protection.

Sources said the government's intent is not censorship or restricting coverage in any way, but ensuring Indian laws and norms are followed and that social media harms are mitigated.

Meta explained how its algorithms and systems work, the ministry sources said, noting that discussions are on and such matters involve "judgment calls" and "tweaks".

The IT Ministry official further said that Meta has shown increased sensitivity and caution on CSAM, with the government seeing some action by the company following its recent discussions.

Sources described the response as "important and significant".

The government had unequivocally ...