The government has asked Meta, which is the owner of Facebook and Instagram, for a complete content overhaul. Meta has been asked to ensure that its recommendation system does not result in "disproportionate exposure of users to a single or limited set of narratives.”
Furthermore, it has also been asked to step up various checks on the content that could go on to incite violence and cause distress among the users. The advisory was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The order by MeitY was issued on October 10th, and it asked Meta to take appropriate action and help in providing the right amount of context to photographs, videos, graphics, or any other piece of content about public events.
It also emphasised the need to provide the authenticity, date, location or circumstances of the content that the user is consuming so that proper information can be passed.
According to PTI, Meta was also asked to review the recommendations that it provides and the various content ranking mechanisms that would help in ensuring that no misleading, manipulated or out-of-context content is being circulated on their apps.
Reports stated that not all narratives were promoted equally
It is interesting to note that there had been reports that Meta was not promoting all the narratives equally, as the algorithm seemed to prefer one narrative over another. In the issued advisory, MeitY told Meta to ensure timely cooperation with law enforcement and other government entities.
It was said that the ministry noted that certain content about the ongoing public event was being pushed more on the Meta apps, with the content involving videos, images, statements, and static graphics in public-order and law-and-order situations.
The advisory also cited the Information Technology Act 2000 and stated that Meta should observe due diligence under the IT Rules 2021. The rules require the app to inform users about information that is prohibited and content that can incite violence and cause unrest among the general public.
Founder Director of Internet Freedom Foundation Apar Gupta stated that the advisory amounts to a "continuing censorship directive". "Even this advisory, which contains phrases like 'content without adequate context' and periods of 'heightened public-order sensitivity', is not tied to any provision of the IT Act or the IT Rules," he said, according to PTI.
With inputs from PTI
Also Read:
