Meta has committed to reporting incidents related to child safety, including cases of child sexual abuse, to law enforcement agencies. This decision was announced by government officials on Tuesday, marking a significant step in the company’s accountability efforts regarding the protection of children online.
The creators said Meta cited a government notice, while the video remained accessible outside India, PTI reported. Some included AI-manipulated images involving real children. Meta removed a large number of the ads after the findings were brought to its attention. It warned that action could be taken against platforms that fail to do so.
A Tech Transparency Project investigation published this month said it found more than 300 Meta ads containing child sexual abuse material. The video had crossed 1.78 crore views before the restriction.
The government said it has been engaging with social media platforms to curb harmful information and strengthen the safety of children online. Meta has sent a letter to MeitY confirming this, a ministry official told HT. The government said online safety of children was a fundamental principle for any social media platform operating in India and was “non-negotiable”. The government said it remains engaged with other social media platforms to ensure harmful content involving children is proactively identified and removed. The government has said platforms must continue to strengthen these safeguards and take proactive steps to protect children online. The creator said he did not believe Satheesan’s office had sought the removal. Meta had earlier removed videos critical of Satheesan and the Kerala government, but later attributed those removals to “technical reasons”.
