The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has begun examining Meta’s response to its notice over child sexual abuse material (CSAM) content and advertisements on Instagram, according to MeitY Secretary S Krishnan.
The secretary said that further action will be decided after the review. The company submitted its reply within the stipulated timeline of Saturday. The notice followed directions from MeitY seeking an explanation from Meta over concerns relating to child safety on Instagram. The ministry had sought the company’s response on the safeguards it has in place to detect, prevent and remove child sexual abuse material, as well as its compliance with India’s legal and regulatory requirements.
The examination by MeitY will determine whether the response adequately addressed the government’s concerns or whether additional regulatory or legal action is warranted.
The development comes as the government has stepped up scrutiny of online platforms over user safety, especially issues involving children, harmful content and compliance with the provisions of the Information Technology Act and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules.
The ministry is also separately examining Meta’s response on the WhatsApp usernames feature after issuing another notice seeking clarifications on the rollout and its implications for user safety and traceability. Officials have said that decisions in both matters will be taken after reviewing the company’s submissions.