Meta CEO Zuckerberg apologises over platform errors, child abuse content after govt meeting

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologised for child abuse content deepfakes and errors in operating the platform sources said on Wednesday after the companys global team met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw following the governments recent summons over the removal of Prime Minister Narendra Modis post on FacebookGovernment sources said it was made clear to the Meta team that they are not covered under the intermediary definitionThe social media platform selects who receives the content and Safe harbour under the IT Act is not applicable according to sourcesMeta team admitted that a lot of money was paid for boosting a certain type of content they apologised and regretted the mistake they addedMeta team including Global Affairs officer Joel Kaplan on Wednesday met IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and had a separate meeting with IT Secretary S KrishnanThe meeting assumes significance as the government had summoned Metas top global executives after Prime Minister Modis recent Facebook post addressing Indian youth and promising stringent action against paper leaks was briefly restricted on the platformWhile the USheadquartered social media giant had attributed the incident to a technical glitch and apologised the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology MeitY had found the explanation inadequate The company which owns Facebook had said that the content was removed in error and was subsequently restored on the platformMeta has also been under regulatory scrutiny over the issue of Child Sexual Abuse Material CSAM in paid advertisements on Instagram and the government last month slapped a notice on the social media giant over the issueThere are a range of issuesthe CSAM issue was raised so what measures have been taken regarding that and synthetically generated information to what extent that is being looked at Then for prominent personalities when they have verified accounts if content has to be taken down there have to be safeguardsall of these will be the issues taken up Krishnan told reporters on TuesdayMeta as one of the leading technology companies in the world should have the technology to address such issues effectively he had saidWe would like to understand from them Meta as to why some of these things have not been working the way they are supposed to work and what are the challenges Krishnan addedFor platforms there needs to be a clear understanding of Indias law what compliance must look like and a clearer understanding of how they intend to make sure compliance happens Krishnan saidGovernment sources had earlier said that the issue is not just about technical aspects but about national security and public order As the government delivers an ultimatum to Meta the companys global team will be categorically asked to clarify issues around algorithmic bias how their algorithm operates and the companys role in public orderIn the immediate aftermath of the issue Meta had informed the IT Ministry that posts by the prime minister and select prominent accounts will be subject to additional oversight on the platform with multiple levels of checks involving senior company officials Meta wrote to the government outlining the specifics of enhanced and rigorous safeguards it implemented on July 28 for content posted by PM Modi and other prominent accountsModis July 23 Instagram post later shared on Facebook had marked his first direct selfie video aimed at engaging with the youth and underscoring the governments commitment to crack down on paper leaks amid students protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party at that time The Facebook version of the post was briefly restricted by Meta before being restoredThe IT Ministry maintained that Metas explanation to the government citing a technical glitch in the automated content filters was not reasonable They had said that if indeed a glitch in the automated system caused the error then Meta being a technology company must surely hasten to improve its own toolsMeta officials had attributed the error to AIpowered automated content filters reviewing shared posts and subsequent videos that had circulated following the original post by the prime minister Meta had told the government that its automated filters inadvertently ended up briefly removing the original post itselfBy summoning global executives the government wants to ensure that Metas leadership acirciquestiquest all the way to the top acirciquestiquest is made fully aware of concerns being raised by Indian authorities The summoning of global executives rather than only local representatives underscores the Centres intent to directly engage Metas international leadership on platform accountabilityA Parliamentary standing committee on Wednesday demanded an apology from Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg over Modis speech being removed from FacebookIn 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 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