New Delhi, September 22, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
After Meta, Google is set to report content flagged as child sexual abuse material (CSAM) directly to Indian authorities, moving away from the long-standing practice of routing such reports through a US-based non-profit organisation.
The move follows growing concerns in India over delays in the existing reporting mechanism and comes after officials pressed major technology companies to speed up the process of alerting Indian law enforcement agencies.
A Google spokesperson said the company “invests significantly to detect, deter, remove, and report child sexual abuse material” and described the change as part of its ongoing discussions with the Government of India.
Meta announced a similar policy change last week.
Until now, Meta and Google’s parent company Alphabet had been sending reports of suspected CSAM to the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which then relayed the information to law enforcement agencies in the relevant jurisdictions.
The shift is aimed at reducing the time taken for such reports to reach domestic authorities, particularly in cases where children could face an immediate risk.
NCMEC operates the CyberTipline, a reporting system for suspected child sexual exploitation. The platform recorded nearly 21.3 million reports from around the world in 2025.
India is the largest market by user numbers for both Meta’s Facebook and Google’s YouTube, making the reporting practices of the two technology companies particularly significant for Indian law enforcement.
Meta’s policy change came after weeks of engagement with the Indian government, including an apology by CEO Mark Zuckerberg last month over the spread of child sexual abuse material on the company’s platforms.
Technology and law enforcement authorities in the US, the European Union and other regions have also been urging online platforms to strengthen the detection and reporting of child sexual exploitation. However, the US non-profit continues to serve as the primary international clearing house for such reports in most countries.
Separately, the Central government in July directed Google to take down multiple Firebase web development accounts that were allegedly impersonating the websites and mobile applications of major public- and private-sector banks and other financial institutions.
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