The Centre has directed Meta to undertake certain technical modifications that will help strengthen the protective measures against deepfakes and child sexual abuse material.
This decision was taken in light of growing concerns about the misuse of AI technology in creating and distributing images, videos and other malicious content on the internet.
The government is exploring ways of improving the identification and removal of this type of content on platforms controlled by Meta, including Facebook and Instagram.
Deepfakes have become a major problem for the social media platform due to advancements in generative AI technology that makes it easy to produce fake images, videos and audio. The technology can be misused in various forms of impersonation and misinformation.
The current discussions revolve around enhancing the technical measures that will help in identifying and blocking such content from being distributed through the internet.
Yet, child sexual abuse material continues to be an area of primary importance for regulatory authorities and technology firms due to the scale at which such material is uploaded, shared, and distributed via online platforms.
For Meta, the request from the government emerges in light of the ongoing scrutiny of the way in which social media companies deal with harmful content and AI-generated content.
The Centre has been urging technology companies to step up the measures they take in order to ensure their platforms are not used for the purpose of generating and distributing any harmful material while AI-based technologies gain more popularity in India.
In addition to that, the dialogue with Meta reflects the overall emphasis that has been placed on AI safety, platform responsibility, and content moderation in India recently.
Along with the increased sophistication and popularity of AI-generated content, the investment into technologies that can help detect and manage harmful material becomes essential for social media platforms.
