New Delhi: Social media giant Meta has agreed to directly report child sexual abuse cases and related child safety concerns to law enforcement authorities in India, government officials said on Tuesday, following mounting pressure from the Centre on digital platforms to enforce strict safeguards for minors. The commitment marks a major policy shift for the tech conglomerate, which has traditionally routed child safety complaints primarily through the United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children rather than directly through Indian domestic authorities.
Government sources emphasized that safeguarding children across online spaces remains a fundamental prerequisite for operating within the country and is strictly non-negotiable. While authorities described Meta’s decision as an essential initial step toward digital accountability, they noted that significantly broader measures are needed to eliminate risks faced by underage users. The Centre is simultaneously pursuing discussions with competing social networks and has warned that platforms failing to proactively detect and purge harmful material involving children will face administrative and legal consequences.
The agreement follows weeks of intense dialogue between senior Meta executives and federal regulators, spurred by high-level meetings in August regarding compliance with domestic legal frameworks, content moderation, and child sexual abuse material. During those sessions, government officials insisted that global tech platforms operating in India must align with domestic statutes rather than international legal conventions.
The scrutiny comes on the heels of formal inquiries into advertisements promoting exploitative content across Meta platforms, leading to summons by child rights bodies and directives from human rights regulators for law enforcement to investigate compliance under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. Additionally, earlier regulatory reviews in July by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology over planned feature changes, including the proposed rollout of usernames on WhatsApp, had prompted warnings regarding user privacy and regulatory oversight.
