Delhi Police registers FIR over child abuse content on Meta platforms

Delhi Police have registered an FIR over the availability of child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) on platforms run by Meta. The case follows directions from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo announced the development in a post on X. He said police had acted on the commission's directions and filed the case in connection with Meta's platforms in India.

No details of the FIR, such as the sections invoked or who is named in it, were immediately available.

The case grows out of a BBC Eye investigation published in July.

The report alleged that Instagram in India carried paid advertisements using terms such as "rape video" and "child video".

Some of these ads reportedly sent users to Telegram channels where abuse material was allegedly sold at very low prices.

The government and several regulators have acted since then. The IT ministry issued a notice to Meta in July asking it to take down the ads, and Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asked officials to call in Meta's representatives for an explanation.

The NHRC took cognisance of the allegations and told Delhi Police to investigate. It also asked police to check whether Meta had met its legal duty to report such offences under the POCSO Act.

The commission sent a follow-up letter to Delhi Police in July seeking a report.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) opened its own inquiry and summoned Meta India's managing director and head in September.

Top Meta India officials appeared before the panel twice within a week.

Government sources said the NCPCR's follow-up pushed Meta to change its policy.

Meta has reportedly agreed to report child sexual abuse cases to law enforcement, and has begun sending such reports to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

Meta has said it does not knowingly run ads featuring child sexual abuse material and that such content breaks its advertising policies.

In a blog post on October 7, the company said it had added AI tools to detect ads that covertly point users to abuse material hosted elsewhere.

A Meta spokesperson has earlier reiterated the company's commitment to tackling child exploitation online.

There was no immediate response from Meta to the FIR.