New Delhi: Meta has agreed to report child sexual abuse cases and other child safety matters to law enforcement agencies in India, government sources said on Tuesday.
Until now, Meta reported instances of child sexual abuse material only to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a body based in the United States, which then coordinated with agencies across other countries. Under the arrangement described by sources, the company will also route such cases to agencies in India.
“Online safety of children is a fundamental principle for any social media platform to operate in India and it is non-negotiable,” one of the government sources said.
The step, the source described, was a starting point rather than a conclusion. “It is a first step towards making the platforms safe for children and much more needs to be done.”
According to the sources, the government is engaging with other platforms to identify and remove such content, and will act against companies that do not take steps to protect children online. “The government shall take action against platforms which do not take proactive steps for the safety of children.”
The development follows several weeks of engagement between the government and Meta. Company executives, including Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, met officials over a period that began 5 August.
Kaplan was accompanied by Neil Potts, Meta’s vice-president of public policy; Rafael Frankel, head of Asia-Pacific public policy; Aman Jain, head of public policy in India; and other executives.
In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) summoned Meta executives over reports that Instagram was running advertisements linked to child sexual abuse material.
The scrutiny traces to a BBC Eye investigation published 3 July, which reported that Instagram carried paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material.
The investigation identified 332 advertisements containing artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse imagery over a period of about 10 months, of which 84 appeared in India. The Tech Transparency Project reported that 78 of the India advertisements ran after the government directed Meta in July to remove such content.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) took suo motu cognisance of the BBC report and issued a notice to Meta Platforms, Inc. on 3 July, seeking an explanation. Meta submitted a response a week later.
After reviewing it, the Commission opened an inquiry and summoned the Managing Director and Head of Meta India to appear on 9 September. Representatives of Meta India appeared before the Commission on that date.
Separately, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directed the Delhi Police to investigate the allegations and to examine whether Meta and other parties met their reporting obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
(Edited by Tony Rai)