India Orders Meta to Revamp Algorithms Over Deepfakes

The Government of India ordered Meta Platforms Incorporated to revamp its algorithms and provide a compliance roadmap to combat deepfakes, propaganda, and illegal content across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology directed the company to tighten content moderation, accelerate takedown requests from authorized agencies, and adhere to data-localization requirements.

This regulatory crackdown follows a series of meetings between Meta officials, led by Global Affairs Head Joel Kaplan, and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The discussions were triggered by the temporary restriction of a Facebook post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta apologized for the error and admitted to "serious issues," promising to increase human oversight in content moderation.

Central authorities are now examining whether Meta's use of recommendation systems and paid content promotion disqualifies the company from its intermediary status under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. If the government determines that Meta acts as a publisher by deciding "what content is shown to whom," the company could lose its safe harbour liability protections and face accountability under the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The government intends to extend this regulatory examination to other major digital platforms operating in India.