New Delhi: Google has voluntarily agreed to provide information on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to Indian police, departing from its global approach of involving a US-based non-profit first before handing over the police to local police.
In the case of CSAM, Google has proposed to provide relevant information to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), a Ministry of Home Affairs body, a company’s official said. Google is “committed to stamping out CSAM online and ensuring that our platforms are not being used to make, store or share such content,” the spokesperson added, noting that Google “has dedicated significant resources to detection, deterrence, removal, and reporting of CSAM.”
Google is likely to implement sharing of information directly with I4C after discussions with the Indian government and tech giants on expediting the reporting of cases of child abuse being highlighted on the internet. The officials had stated that such a referral through an overseas institution will lead to delayed actions as the child could be facing a risk issue right now and no action can be taken until the information reaches another level of the agency.
Currently, Google and Meta refer to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US, who in turn alerts law enforcement in the countries involved to present relevant information related to suspected child sexual exploitation. The new deal is a similar one reached by Meta last week after it agreed to share child safety concerns directly with the I4C’s cybercrime portal rather than NCMEC alone.
The transfer comes as the government has been more diligent than ever on online child safety and an investigation by the BBC into CSAM ads on Instagram. NCMEC’s CyberTipline was receiving 21.3 million reports globally in 2025, of which 19.5 million were for child sexual abuse material, and approximately 1.4 million reports were on online enticement of children. The sexually explicit content depicting a child can land a person up to five years in prison and up to ₹10 lakh fine for a first-time accused under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act.
The timeline for the new, direct reporting system is still not clear, as the technicalities of the system are still being worked out by Google.
