The presence of paid content linked to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Instagram has brought the Indian government and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta into a broader discussion on how global social media platforms can strengthen safeguards while complying with Indian law, with officials saying the dialogue between the social media giant and the Centre will continue.
Officials have sought explanations from Meta and stressed that unlawful CSAM content cannot be protected by safe-harbour provisions, while the company has outlined its use of automated systems and human reviewers to detect and act against child exploitation.
“The important thing is to understand what happened, what action was taken and how the recurrence of such content is being addressed. Earlier reporting noted: Safe-harbour protection is available under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act and it protects intermediaries from being held legally responsible for third-party content hosted on their platforms.
“On CSAM, the position is very clear and unequivocal – if this kind of unlawful content is appearing on the platform, safe harbour cannot be taken for granted,” a government official told NDTV. Meta has told the government it has acted on these concerns. The broader regulatory approach, officials said, should not be viewed simply through the lens of “government censorship”. “Safe harbour, where the requirements of the law are not met, can lead to consequences, including loss of that protection,” the official said, adding that “ultimately, whether safe harbour applies in a particular case will be for the courts to decide. Officials stressed that government powers are exercised lawfully and said Section 69A of the IT Act has been used sparingly. Earlier reporting noted: No safe harbour in case of child sexual abuse content, says govt in ‘hard talk’ with Meta: Report The government has reportedly expressed strong objection to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in its talks with Meta and the communication has led to action and increased sensitivity on the issue. Earlier reporting noted: The government had a “hard talk” with Meta on the issue and has clarified that circulation of CSAM content is a clear violation and there is no safe harbour in such cases, according to a report by news agency PTI.
