Meta Must Follow Indian Law, Not Just Global Policies: Govt Sources
Oh, marvellous. India's government has clarified that it isn't demanding Meta overhaul its algorithms — heavens, no — just that it follow Indian law rather than "global policies." This is the diplomatic equivalent of telling a guest they needn't redecorate, but they must stop wiping their feet on the constitution. Apparently "talks focused on improving content," which presumably means content that doesn't get politicians into trouble before elections.
Meta's "global policies" are a magnificent fiction, a set of community guidelines drafted somewhere in California by lawyers with excellent posture and no obligation to Indian courts. The government sources didn't name any law, but that's the beauty of the message: it doesn't need to, because the gap between Meta's self-regulated utopia and the statute book is roughly the width of the Indian electorate. One almost admires the firm's ability to treat every country's legal system as an optional downloadable add-on. "Follow Indian law" must have landed in Menlo Park with all the force of a parent's "because I said so," after years of being courted as a guest of honour at tech summits. But then, global policies are so much more convenient when you're trying to be everything to everyone everywhere at once.
Still, credit where due: the government clarified it did not ask for algorithmic overhaul. Perhaps because it knows asking Meta to explain its algorithms is like asking a cat to explain its life choices — technically possible but exhausting, and the answer will be unhelpful either way. The real tell is the word "content," which in regulatory-speak means "we're watching what you serve our people, and we trust you'll decide to serve something less inflammatory." No fines, no deadlines, no specifics — just a firm, smiling suggestion that Meta follow the law. Which in this town is code for "we'll be back with the actual rules when we've finished arguing about them," by which time Meta will have redesigned its policies to technically comply with a law that hasn't been written yet.