Seeing increased sensitivity from Meta on tackling child porn: Govt sources

Meta has shown greater caution in tackling child sexual abuse material, while the government pushes for stronger moderation that accounts for India's linguistic and cultural context. Here is everything you need to know.Meta faces government scrutiny over CSAM, content moderation and AI-generated content.The government has seen a more careful approach from Meta towards tackling child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms, even as discussions between the two sides continue amid a broader disagreement over social media regulation. Government sources told PTI that Meta has shown “increased sensitivity” towards CSAM-related content and is taking steps to filter unlawful material. The government has also made it clear that people involved in violations involving such content cannot claim the protection of safe-harbour provisions.According to the report, the government’s actions against unlawful content have remained within the powers provided under India’s existing legal and statutory framework. No action, they said, has been taken outside those provisions. The discussions, however, go beyond CSAM. The government has told Meta that its content moderation teams need to better understand India’s linguistic and cultural diversity instead of relying only on global moderation standards.Meta urged to make moderation more India-specificThis has become an important part of the government’s concerns as social media platforms operate across countries with very different languages, social norms and cultural contexts. Officials said moderation systems need to account for these differences while enforcing platform rules. The government also clarified its position on the ongoing debate around WhatsApp usernames. The issue is being looked at from an industry-wide perspective rather than as a matter concerning Meta alone, since similar considerations could apply to other messaging platforms.Officials said the government will continue to monitor these issues. They stressed that the objective is not to censor or suppress legitimate expression, but to prevent platforms from creating circumstances that could be harmful to India’s social fabric. The government has also pointed to similar debates in Western liberal democracies, arguing that platform regulation is now a wider global challenge. While freedom of speech remains important, officials noted that India’s Constitution also permits reasonable restrictions, with cultural and social circumstances differing from one country to another.Another issue raised in the discussions is AI-generated content. The government wants synthetically generated material to be clearly labelled so users can distinguish between content created by people and content generated by artificial intelligence. Officials described this as a matter of users’ “right to know” whether the content they are seeing is synthetic or authentic.- EndsPublished On: Aug 18, 2026 12:14 IST