India a priority market with limitless possibilities: Meta’s Sandhya Devanathan

NEW DELHI: Meta sees India as a “priority market” with “limitless” possibilities buoyed by macroeconomic growth, digital infrastructure and the popularity of its apps like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, the social media giant’s India head Sandhya Devanathan said.

Devanathan, who took over the leadership role in January this year, said India’s new Digital Personal Data Protection legislation has provided a framework and clarity for tech companies and marks a “great step in balancing user protection with innovation”.

Meta, she emphasised, “welcomes constructive regulations”, and will wait to see the detailed rules.

Devanathan, who is the vice president of Meta in India, also spoke of the company’s determination to crack down on misinformation on the platform and outlined how it is harnessing AI (Artificial Intelligence) to pro-actively curb hateful content.

She said the user growth trajectory is strong. Overall, the possibilities offered by the Indian market are “limitless”, backed by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, Digital Public Infrastructure, and other factors.

For Meta, India is also one of the most engaged markets in short-form videos both in terms of creation and consumption of ‘Reels’, Devanathan said. “Meta India is innovating for Meta globally” and there is also a massive momentum in small businesses using Meta platforms and tools.

A significant number of businesses in India are on Meta, using its platforms to set up their first presence on the internet and to find and communicate with customers, she pointed out.

To a question on Facebook losing appeal among teens and young adult users across key markets, signalling a clear shift in preferences, Devanathan asserted that Facebook continues to see traction and relevance among users of all age groups.

Devanathan said she does not agree with the perception of a slow decline of Facebook with younger audiences.

“India is a huge priority market for the company. So, India has one of our largest user bases, be it on Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. But equally, India is also the place where we test a lot of what we roll out globally as well. It has also been where we develop a lot of our innovative products and that investment will continue,” she said.