Cyber Awareness

Meta to Directly Report Child Abuse Content to Indian Cybercrime Portal

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

Meta announced it will now report child safety matters directly to the Cybercrime portal run by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which operates under the home ministry. The decision follows a July investigation that found Instagram was running paid adverts that promoted child abuse material in India. A Meta spokesperson said protecting children on its platforms is a priority and that the company is committed to working with the government to hold perpetrators accountable.

Until now, Meta has reported cases of apparent child exploitation to the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which forwards reports to law‑enforcement agencies in other countries. Direct reporting to India’s portal is expected to allow local authorities to receive information more quickly, though Meta has not yet specified when the new reporting will begin, which cases it will cover, or how the arrangement will operate.

The change comes after pressure from Indian authorities and child‑rights groups over how the material was circulated and monetised on social media. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has opened a formal inquiry, summoned Meta India’s managing director and country head, and requested documents. India’s National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to two government ministries. The inquiry is examining whether Meta’s systems contributed to selecting, circulating, amplifying or monetising the content.

Just Rights for Children, a network of more than 250 organisations, cited the BBC’s findings in a petition before India’s Supreme Court, asking the court to direct social media companies to identify and report those promoting child sexual abuse material to Indian authorities. Founder Bhuwan Ribhu told the BBC that reporting only through the U.S. system was insufficient.