Google to Report Child Abuse Material Directly to Indian Authorities

A sign is displayed on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, California (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The decision follows a similar announcement by Meta last week

BENGALURU: Google said on Monday it has agreed to report content flagged as child sexual abuse material to Indian authorities, breaking from ​a global practice under which such reports are first routed through ‌a U.S. non-profit.

The decision follows a similar announcement by Meta last week. It comes after two Indian government sources told Reuters they had in recent weeks pressed tech companies like ​Google and Microsoft to report child abuse content concerning India directly, ​given concerns that the existing system delays reports significantly.

A Google spokesperson ⁠said the company “invests significantly to detect, deter, remove, and report child sexual abuse ​material,” and described the proposal as part of the company’s “ongoing discussions with the ​government of India.

” India is the largest market by users for both Meta’s Facebook and Google’s YouTube, and Meta’s own shift followed 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.

Meta and Alphabet Inc’s Google have for years made such ‌reports ⁠to the U.S.-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which then relays reports to law enforcement in the country involved.

Indian officials had argued to tech platforms that the arrangement costs precious time in cases where a child may be in ​active danger, since ​reports pass 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. The CyberTipline, run ​by that ⁠same nonprofit, received more than 21.3 million reports from around the world of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2025.

Technology and law enforcement officials in the United States, the ⁠European ​Union and elsewhere have pushed platforms to speed ​up detection and reporting, though most countries continue to route reports through the U.S. nonprofit as ​the primary international clearing house.

( Source : Reuters )