Meta, which owns platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to directly report child safety-related cases in India to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). The move comes as the government increases pressure on social media platforms to strengthen safeguards for children and act against harmful content online.
“Protecting children on our platforms is a priority for the company,” a Meta spokesperson said, adding that the company was committed to working with the government to ensure perpetrators were 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.
Meta is the first major technology intermediary to commit to setting up a direct reporting channel with Indian law enforcement for such cases. Until now, the company has primarily reported child safety cases to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
The development comes amid growing scrutiny of social media platforms by the Indian government over child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfakes and other harmful content.
Government sources said the online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for every social media platform operating in India and is “non-negotiable”. They said action would be taken against platforms that fail to take proactive steps to protect children online.
In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over alleged Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram.
The action followed a BBC Eye investigation that alleged Instagram had carried paid advertisements promoting CSAM, with some advertisements directing users to Telegram channels hosting sexually explicit material involving children. The investigation also alleged that Meta’s recommendation systems amplified videos containing such material.
Earlier this month, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoned Meta India executives over the issue.
The I4C, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, operates the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, with a special focus on crimes against women and children. It has also developed the Sahyog portal to route content takedown requests to social media platforms.
The government is continuing discussions with other online platforms to ensure they proactively detect and remove harmful content and report suspected cases to Indian law enforcement agencies.