Meta agrees to change child abuse reporting process in India

Meta officials admitted to a mistake before the NCPCR and agreed to directly report child abuse content to Indian law enforcement agencies, government sources said. The company will also vet such content itself amid scrutiny over its algorithms and child safety measures

New Delhi: Meta officials admitted to a mistake during their appearance before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday and said the company would report child abuse content directly to Indian law enforcement agencies, government sources said.

The officials also indicated that going forward, Meta would itself vet such content, amid scrutiny over the role of its algorithms in amplifying content and determining its visibility on its platforms.

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Meta India chief Arun Srinivas and other senior executives appeared before the child rights panel for the second time in a week as the NCPCR intensified its inquiry into alleged advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on Instagram.

Government sources said Meta officials acknowledged the mistake during the hearing and agreed to strengthen the company’s reporting mechanism for child safety-related cases in India.

The officials said Meta would directly report child abuse content to Indian law enforcement agencies through the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), the sources said.

Going forward, Meta will itself vet such content, according to the government sources. The development assumes significance amid questions over the role of the platform’s algorithms in amplifying content and determining what users see.

Government sources said Meta could no longer be viewed simply as an intermediary, given the role played by its systems and algorithms in influencing content visibility on its platforms. They said social media companies have a responsibility to take proactive measures to safeguard children from harmful online content.

Srinivas did not respond to repeated media queries about the proceedings as he left the NCPCR office following Wednesday’s meeting.

The latest appearance came a week after senior Meta executives appeared before the commission on September 9. The NCPCR subsequently summoned Meta India’s managing director and other senior officials again for Wednesday’s hearing as part of its formal inquiry.

Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, had earlier routed child safety-related cases primarily through the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Its decision to report such matters directly to Indian authorities marks a change in that process.