As per latest development in Meta child sexual abuse case, the government on Wednesday claimed the tech giant can no longer be considered a “simple intermediary” but is a “service provider” when its algorithms amplify and decide on the content visibility.
It added that Meta – the owner of Facebook and Instagram – does not have legal immunity in this situation, although the interpretation of law and the final determination rest with the judiciary.
Responding to questions on whether or not Meta loses its immunity, the source familiar in the know maintained that it is up to the court to decide.
“But we believe they do not have the immunity,” government sources said.
Emphasizing that every service provider must be responsible for its content posting, the government officials added, “service providers have many responsibilities…once Meta has agreed to be responsible for what they have on the platform, then as the next steps, they have to start taking many more responsibilities.”
The government’s statement comes amidst growing concerns over growing scrutiny for social media firm in India subjected to online addiction and mental health issues, harmful content and the algorithmic bias.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Meta official agreed to prioritising child protection on its platform, adding that, “We’re committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible”.
“To collectively strengthen our efforts to combat this harm, Meta will now report child safety matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by I4C,” the Meta spokesperson had said.
Subsequently, the Centre said that online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for any social media platform operating in India and is absolutely “non-negotiable”.
In the recent months, India has ramped up its security over harmful and illegal content being published on social media platforms.