Meta gets 27K reports via Indian grievance mechanism in March, fake FB, Insta profiles key concern

NEW DELHI — As synthetic content, especially deepfakes, continues to rise, Meta received more than 27,000 reports on Facebook and Instagram via the Indian grievance mechanism in the month of March, and the fake profiles that pretended to be genuine users dominated those reports.

Between March 1-March 31, the social media giant received 15,226 reports on Facebook in the country and 4,323 reports were about fake profiles.

Of all these reports, “we provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 8,720 cases,” said Meta.

Of the other 6,506 reports, “we reviewed content as per our policies, and took action on 2,207 reports in total. The remaining 4,299 reports were reviewed but may not have been actioned,” the social media platform informed.

Similarly, on Instagram, the company received a total of 12,084 reports through the Indian grievance, and 5,055 were about fake profiles on the photo-sharing platform.

In the case of Instagram, Meta provided tools for users to resolve their issues in 5,776 cases, and of the other 6,308 reports, it reviewed content and took action on 1,817 reports in total.

The company also received 39 orders from the Grievance Appellate Committee in March in India, and complied with all.

Meta, like other big social media platforms, needs to submit a monthly compliance report in accordance with the new IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and provide information for actions taken against violating content on Facebook and Instagram for content created by users in India.

WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, banned more than 79 lakh accounts in the country in March, in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021.