Meta has agreed to report child safety-related matters directly to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) cybercrime portal, marking a significant step in the Centre’s push for social media platforms to strengthen safeguards and ensure greater accountability for harmful content involving minors.
A Meta spokesperson said protecting children on its platforms is a priority for the company and added, “We’re committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible”.
“To collectively strengthen our efforts to combat this harm, Meta will now report child safety matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by I4C,” the spokesperson said.
US-headquartered Meta is the first major tech intermediary to commit to establishing a direct reporting pipeline to Indian law enforcement. At present, Meta reports child safety cases to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Govt warns platforms over child safety
Government sources said Meta’s decision to report child safety-related matters to law enforcement agencies is a first step towards making social media platforms safer for children, but much more needs to be done.
The sources asserted that online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for any social media platform operating in India and absolutely “non-negotiable”.
The government will take action against platforms that fail to take proactive steps to ensure children’s safety online, the sources said.
The Centre is also engaging with other online platforms to ensure they proactively identify and remove harmful content, including material linked to child sexual abuse.
The government has stepped up scrutiny of social media platforms over harmful and illegal online content, including child sexual abuse material and deepfakes. It has pressed platforms for faster takedowns, stronger safeguards and greater accountability, while making clear that failure to comply with Indian law will not be tolerated.
Meta faced scrutiny over CSEAM content
The Centre had issued a notice to Meta over its handling of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) and recently summoned the social media giant’s global executives to India.
In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over CSEAM in paid advertisements on Instagram. The ministry ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting or facilitating access to CSEAM and sought a detailed explanation.
Multiple rounds of discussions with Meta’s top executives followed, during which the IT Ministry made it unequivocally clear that such content constitutes a violation and cannot be covered by safe-harbour protection.
Earlier this month, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoned the Managing Director and Head of Meta India in connection with its inquiry into alleged advertisements related to CSEAM on the platform.
The child rights body had taken suo motu cognisance of a BBC Eye report on alleged advertisements related to CSEAM and sought an explanation from Meta.
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