Meta will now report child safety-related cases directly to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), as the government steps up pressure on social media platforms to strengthen safeguards for children online.
“We’re committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible,” a Meta spokesperson said on Monday, adding that protecting children across its platforms remains a priority for the company.
“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.
The move comes amid the government’s push for social media companies to adopt stronger safeguards and take greater responsibility for identifying and acting against harmful content involving children.
Official sources cited by PTI said the online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for any social media platform operating in India and is “non-negotiable”.
The move makes Meta the first major social media platforms to establish a direct reporting channel with Indian law enforcement for child safety cases. Until now, Meta has been reporting such cases to the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which facilitates the reporting of suspected child sexual exploitation to law enforcement agencies.
The government has been holding discussions with social media platforms to strengthen measures against harmful online content, with a focus on ensuring that platforms proactively detect, remove and report such material.
The latest development comes after the government raised concerns over child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM) appearing on social media platforms.
In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over CSEAM-related content in paid advertisements on Instagram. The ministry directed Instagram to disable advertisements and content promoting or facilitating access to such material and sought a detailed explanation from the company.
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 child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM) on the platform.
