Meta has restricted access in India to two videos posted by the Congress showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adani Group chief Gautam Adani after receiving takedown notices from the Delhi Police, the Hindustan Times reported.
The social media conglomerate disclosed to the Lumen Database, a Harvard University project, that it restricted access to the artificial intelligence-generated videos on Instagram and Facebook.
In its disclosure, Meta stated that it received the takedown notices on December 18.
The company said that the videos did not violate its community standards, but it would risk losing safe harbour protections and would put its local personnel at risk of criminal penalties if it failed to comply with the notices.
Losing safe harbour protections would mean that the platforms would be legally responsible for the content in question.
The police had invoked Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act. This provision states that online intermediaries, such as social media platforms, can lose their safe harbour status if they fail to remove or disable access to content that is used to commit an “unlawful act” despite being told to do so by government authorities.
The notices also mentioned rule 3(1)(d) of IT Rules, which requires social media platforms to remove content within 36 hours of receiving a court order or a government notification.
They said that the videos violated Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 336(4) and 340(2), and section 66C of the IT Act.
While BNS section 336(4) deals with punishment for forgery, section 340(2) pertains to the fraudulent use of forged documents or electronic records. Section 66C of the IT Act deals with identity theft.
On October 22, the Union government amended the IT Rules to define the authorities that can seek the removal of content posted online.
The earlier version of the rules said that any “appropriate government or its agency” can direct social media platforms to take down content.
The amended rules say that social media platforms can be directed to remove content or block its access through an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or through an intimation by a government official not below the rank of joint secretary or director.
If the take-down notice is from the police, it must be issued by an officer not below the rank of deputy inspector general.
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