Meta to share child safety information directly with Indian agencies

In July, the government issued a notice to Meta about child sexual exploitation and abuse content in paid ads on Instagram | Photo credit: Reuters

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, will share reports of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) with Indian law enforcement agencies as well as the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the company said on Tuesday. Indian agencies have had access to CSAM reports from Meta and other US-based technology companies for years, under a 2019 memorandum of understanding between the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and NCMEC.

Also read | Why is NCPCR investigating Meta, Instagram?

Now Meta will share information directly with Indian agencies. “As on 31.03.2024, more than 69.05 lakh cyber tip messages have been shared with the concerned States/UTs,” Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi informed the Rajya Sabha in 2024. “Protection of children on our platforms is our priority,” and we are determined to work with the spokesmen of these crimes who have said they are responsible in the meta crime. declaration.

Cybercrime portal

“To collectively strengthen our efforts to combat this harm, Meta will now report child safety issues directly to the cybercrime portal managed by I4C,” the spokesperson added, referring to India’s Cybercrime Coordination Center under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Meta has come under scrutiny by the Union government and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in recent weeks over reports describing the depiction of CSAM in Instagram and Facebook ads. The firm then said that while it reviews all ads posted by third parties on its platform, some bad actors are able to post such content anyway.

The Center and NCPCR held several meetings with Meta regarding the matter and the child rights body initiated an investigation based on the initial exchange of correspondence with the company.

Published – 15 Sep 2026 12:24 IST