PM video briefly blocked, Meta’s global officials get summons from Centre, Pg3

Key Highlights:

• The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) summoned global officials from Meta after a video by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefly blocked by Facebook in India.
• The video, posted last week, concerned strict measures against paper leaks.
• Meta stated the video was removed "in error" and has since been restored.
• MeitY also plans to discuss Meta's compliance with India's technology laws and the issue of deepfakes.
• The Delhi High Court issued notice to Meta Platforms and the Centre regarding a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by content creator Nitin Joshi.
• The PIL alleges an "organised cyber extortion racket" exploiting Meta's Rights Manager to target creators with fraudulent copyright strikes.

Detailed Insights:

• The summons from MeitY were reportedly sent via email to Joel Kaplan, Meta's global affairs president, and Adam Mosseri, Instagram's chief.
• The incident with the Prime Minister's video highlights concerns over content moderation policies of social media platforms in India.
• The PIL by Nitin Joshi, who has over 1.6 million Instagram followers, was filed after his video exposing the alleged scam was blocked worldwide.
• Scammers are accused of exploiting a vulnerability in Facebook's desktop version to manipulate timestamps on posts.
• They allegedly replace older, low-engagement posts with a legitimate creator's new content, making it appear they own the copyright.
• Meta's automated Rights Manager system, relying on these manipulated timestamps, then accepts the fraudulent copyright complaints.
• The PIL seeks the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the racket and calls for a human review mechanism for grievances instead of solely automated systems.
• The Delhi High Court orally observed that there is a "large issue of digital extortion" involved in the matter.
• The Centre's counsel acknowledged the legitimacy of the concern raised by the content creator.
• Earlier, the Delhi High Court had directed petitioners with similar allegations to approach Meta Platforms' grievance officer for expeditious resolution.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY): A government ministry responsible for IT policy, electronics, internet governance, and digital services in India.
• Deepfakes: AI-generated synthetic media (video, audio, images) that convincingly depict a person saying or doing something they never did, often used to deceive.
• Public Interest Litigation (PIL): A legal action initiated in a court of law for the protection of public interest, allowing any public-spirited citizen to approach the court for a public cause.
• Rights Manager: A Meta tool designed to help creators and publishers protect, track, and monetize their original content by detecting unauthorized copies across Facebook and Instagram.
• Grievance Mechanism: A system established by intermediaries, including social media platforms, to receive and resolve complaints from users, as mandated by India's IT Rules, 2021.