NEW DELHI : Meta has agreed to report child sexual abuse cases and other child safety-related matters to appropriate law enforcement agencies in India, as the government steps up pressure on social media companies to protect minors from harmful and illegal online content.

Government sources said on Tuesday that the online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” for every social media platform operating in India and is “absolutely non-negotiable”.

Authorities warned that action would be taken against platforms that fail to proactively identify, remove and report harmful content involving children.

The government described Meta’s decision as an important first step towards making online platforms safer for children, while stressing that considerably more needs to be done.

Until now, Meta had routed reports of apparent child exploitation through the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, or NCMEC, which coordinated with authorities in other countries. Under the new arrangement described by government sources, such cases will also be reported to relevant Indian law enforcement agencies.

The Centre said it remains in discussions with other social media and online platforms to ensure that they proactively detect and remove child sexual abuse material and other dangerous content rather than waiting for complaints.

India has intensified scrutiny of digital platforms in recent months over child sexual abuse material, obscene content, deepfakes and other AI-generated harmful material. Existing rules require intermediaries to take stronger due-diligence measures and act swiftly against unlawful content.

The government had earlier sought explanations from Meta over reports involving child sexual exploitation-related content and advertisements on its platforms. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also issued notices as authorities demanded stronger safeguards and greater accountability.

Meta has said it does not tolerate child exploitation on its platforms and uses automated systems to identify and remove violating accounts and content. The company said that between October and December 2025, it removed 13 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content from Facebook and Instagram, more than 96% of which it said was detected proactively.

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