Google to report child abuse content directly to Indian authorities
Google said it has agreed to report content flagged as child sexual abuse material to Indian authorities, breaking from a global practice where such reports are routed through a U.S. non-profit. Meta announced a similar change last week. The move follows Indian government pressure on tech companies.
S. non-profit. The move follows a similar announcement by Meta last week. Two Indian government sources told Reuters that in recent weeks they had pressed tech companies including Google and Microsoft to report child abuse content concerning India directly, due to concerns the existing system delays reports significantly.
" India is the largest market by users for both Meta's Facebook and Google's YouTube, and Meta's change came after weeks of friction with the Indian government, including an apology last month by CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the spread of child sexual abuse material on the company's platforms. -based 21 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children relays reports to law enforcement in the country involved. Indian officials have told tech platforms the arrangement takes precious time in cases where a child may be in active danger, because reports go through that intermediary before reaching domestic police who can act on the ground, according to two sources.
Child sexual abuse material remains a vast and growing global problem. 3 million reports from around the world of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2025. S. nonprofit as the main international clearing house.