Meta has agreed to report child safety-related matters, including cases involving child sexual abuse, to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, government officials said on Tuesday.
The creators said Meta cited a government notice, while the video remained accessible outside India, PTI reported. It warned that action could be taken against platforms that fail to do so. 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”. It described Meta’s decision to report child safety-related matters to law enforcement agencies as a “first step” towards making social media platforms safer for children. However, it said much more needs to be done. 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”.
