NCPCR meets social media giants to discuss child safety measures

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) convened a meeting with social media platforms, including Google, YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp), X, Snapchat, ShareChat, Reddit, and Bumble, to discuss child protection rights and safety issues.

According to reports, key topics of the meeting included age verification mechanisms, safety tools employed by the platforms, and procedures for detecting and reporting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The discussions highlighted the need for social media platforms to support law enforcement agencies with tools for identifying deep fakes, tracing predators, and protecting victims' privacy.

The meeting emphasised parameters for reporting concerns to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and strategies for shielding children from explicit content. A consensus was reached that social media platforms must implement robust Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and adhere to Section 9 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Platforms were reminded of their legal obligations under Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, which mandates the reporting of CSAM to local law enforcement. It was stressed that social media platforms should only engage with minors after obtaining explicit consent from their parents or legal guardians. Disclaimers regarding adult content must be displayed in English, Hindi, and regional languages.

The NCPCR requested social media platforms to provide data on the number of cases submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children from January to June 2024, including details about image or video hashes and content types. Platforms are expected to implement the discussed recommendations and submit an Action Taken Report to the NCPCR within seven days of the meeting.