4 min readUpdated: Aug 4, 2026 06:23 PM IST
The government will flag several concerns, including handling of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and the wrongful moderation of accounts of prominent persons, when Meta’s global team visits India on August 5 and 6, IT Secretary S Krishnan said on Tuesday.
“There are a range of issues… the CSAM issue was raised and so what measures have been taken regarding that, and synthetically generated information… to what extent that is being looked at (will be discussed). Then, for prominent personalities when they have verified accounts, if content has to be taken down, there have to be safeguards… all of these will be the issues (taken up),” he said.
Sources said Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan is expected to attend the discussion
The meeting comes days after the government summoned Meta’s top global executives following the brief blocking of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Facebook post on action against paper leaks.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has recently come under regulatory scrutiny over advertisements containing child sexual abuse material on Instagram. Last month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to the company over the issue.
Krishnan said a technology company of Meta’s scale should have systems capable of preventing such lapses. “We would like to understand why some of these things have not been working the way they are supposed to work, and what are the challenges,” he said.
He added that online platforms must have “a clear understanding of India’s law, what compliance must look like, and a clearer understanding of how they intend to make sure compliance happens”.
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The meeting follows the controversy surrounding Prime Minister Modi’s July 23 Facebook post, in which he addressed students and promised strict action against examination paper leaks. The post was briefly restricted before being restored.
Meta later apologised, saying the content had been removed “in error” because of a technical glitch in its AI-powered automated content filters. However, the IT Ministry termed the explanation “inadequate” and “not reasonable”.
According to government sources, the discussions will go beyond the technical error and include issues related to national security, public order, algorithmic bias and the functioning of Meta’s recommendation systems. By summoning its global leadership instead of only its India executives, the Centre intends to directly press Meta’s international management on platform accountability.
Following the incident, Meta informed the government that posts from the Prime Minister and other prominent verified accounts would be subjected to additional oversight through multiple layers of review involving senior company officials.
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Separately, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday alleged that some social media platforms were promoting “anti-establishment” and “anti-democracy” content while failing to adequately curb illegal content involving women and children. Dubey, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said the panel had unanimously recommended withdrawing the “safe harbour” protection available to social media platforms if they fail to comply with Indian laws.
The remarks came a day after Meta officials appeared before the parliamentary panel, where members questioned them over alleged algorithmic bias and the removal of legitimate content while objectionable material continued to remain accessible on the platform.
(With inputs from PTI)