'Blocking free flow of data a burden on growth, innovation'

Mandating data localisation does not make sense for countries which want their companies to compete at an international level, the chief global affairs officer at Meta JOEL KAPLAN told Aashish Aryan in New Delhi. Edited excerpts from a conversation that ranged from free flow of data to age-appropriate content and more:

- JOEL KAPLAN

What do you think of the draft rules of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act?

We have felt all along that the government has been very open, transparent and consultative. The rule-making reflects the government's general approach of trying to strike a balance between protecting the users' safety and privacy but doing so in a way that continues to promote innovation.

There are a few remaining areas where we think the rules could benefit from some additional clarity.

What are those areas?

The rules can benefit from some additional clarity on tracking and monitoring of users under 18 years and what constitutes targeted advertisements. This is needed so that we can continue to offer age-appropriate safe content and experiences. There should be some more clarity around consent so that services like ours can continue to be offered for free.

The industry has flagged concerns on the rules around cross-border flow of data and said that these could lead to business disruptions. And, telecom companies in India have supported data localisation. Your thoughts?