Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has agreed to report child safety-related matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), as the government pushes social media platforms for stronger safeguards and greater accountability amid a crackdown on child sexual abuse material and other harmful content online.

Protecting children on the platforms is a priority for the company, a Meta spokesperson said, adding, “We’re committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are 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, headquartered in the United States, is the first major tech intermediary to commit to establishing a direct reporting pipeline to Indian law enforcement. Until now, Meta has reported child safety cases to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Earlier on Tuesday, Government sources said Meta had agreed to report child safety-related matters to appropriate law enforcement agencies. The sources said the online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for any social media platform operating in India and is absolutely “non-negotiable.”

The Government will take action against platforms that fail to take proactive steps to ensure children’s safety online, the sources said, underscoring its tough stance on platforms’ responsibility to protect minors from harmful content and activity. The government remains engaged with other online platforms to ensure they proactively identify and remove such content, the sources added.

According to the sources, Meta’s pledge to report child sexual abuse material cases to law enforcement agencies is a first step towards making the platforms safer for children, and much more needs to be done. The government is continuously engaging with social media platforms to curb harmful content, with efforts underway to ensure all platforms proactively identify and remove such material, the sources said.

The Government has stepped up scrutiny of social media platforms over harmful and illegal online content, including child sexual abuse material and deepfakes. It has issued notices to Meta over its handling of such content and recently summoned the company’s global executives to India, as the Centre pressed platforms for faster takedown of harmful content, stronger safeguards and greater accountability – warning them that failure to comply with Indian law will not be tolerated.

In July, the Government issued a notice to Meta on Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to CSEAM, and demanded a detailed explanation. Multiple rounds of discussions with Meta’s top executives followed, in which the IT Ministry made it unequivocally clear that such content constitutes a violation and cannot be covered by safe-harbour protection.

Earlier this month, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoned the Managing Director and Head of Meta India in connection with its inquiry into alleged CSEAM-related advertisements on the platform. The child rights body had taken suo motu cognisance of a BBC Eye media report on the alleged advertisements and sought an explanation from Meta.

BBC Eye investigation, published in early July, alleged that Instagram had carried paid advertisements promoting CSAM, some of which directed users to Telegram channels hosting sexually explicit content involving children. The investigation also found that Meta’s recommendation systems were amplifying videos containing such material.

India’s IT Ministry (MeitY) responded by ordering Instagram to disable the advertisements and demanded a detailed explanation within seven days. The National Human Rights Commission separately directed Delhi Police to investigate whether Meta had complied with mandatory reporting obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and issued a follow-up notice in early August seeking action-taken reports from MeitY, police authorities and Meta.

The I4C, set up by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs, operates the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) with a special focus on crimes against women and children. The I4C has separately built the Sahyog portal to route content takedown requests to social media platforms, and has earlier directed intermediaries to nominate nodal officers for child sexual abuse material reporting and deploy AI tools to detect and remove such material.

Direct reporting to the I4C portal would mark a shift for Meta, which has until now routed child safety reports primarily through NCMEC in the United States, under a system that has drawn criticism in India for adding extra steps between platforms and domestic law enforcement. (PTI)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response of the Centre on a plea by Carnatic vocalist T M Krishna challenging the penal law mandating singing of six stanzas of Vande Mataram.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of the submissions of senior advocate S Murlaidhar, appearing for Krishna, and said it may examine the penal aspect of the law.

The top court, which did not issue notice to the Centre on the plea, however, said the fact that Vande Mataram is the national song is beyond doubt and the aspect with regard to the penal consequences may be examined with regard to fundamental rights under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution guarantee the fundamental right to freedom of religion, protecting both individual and collective religious freedoms.

Krishna submitted that the last four stanzas of Vande Mataram expressly invoke devotion to Hindu deities, and mandating the singing of those portions violates the secular character of the nation.

The amendment to cover Vande Mataram under the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act is arbitrary and violates personal liberty, and furthers a “majoritarian religious message”, the plea said. (PTI)