Meta to Report Child Safety Cases Directly to Indian Law Enforcement

Meta Platforms LLC has announced that it will now report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) directly to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) via the national cybercrime reporting portal. This marks a change in procedure because the company previously shared such reports with the U.S. based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which then forwarded the information to Indian agencies under a 2019 memorandum of understanding between the NCMEC and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). A Meta spokesperson stated that protecting children is a priority and that the company is committed to working with the government to ensure perpetrators are held responsible.

The decision follows intense scrutiny from the Indian government and the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). This pressure stemmed from reports and a BBC Eye investigation alleging that paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material were appearing on Instagram and Facebook. Meta has maintained that while it screens third party ads, some bad actors still manage to post such content. In a statement, Meta noted it removed 36 million pieces of content for child exploitation globally last year and removed 160,000 accounts in India due to suspicious off platform links.

Government data shared in the Rajya Sabha indicates that more than 69.05 lakh Cyber Tip line reports had been shared with relevant States and Union Territories as of March 31, 2024. While the new direct reporting arrangement has been confirmed by Meta, some observers note that no formal written instrument recording the new agreement has been published yet.