NCPCR holds meeting with Google, social media platforms to discuss safety measures for children

New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has held a meeting with Google and social media platforms like Meta, X, Snapchat etc., to discuss issues related to protection of rights and safety of children, along with several other issues. 

In a statement, the NCPCR said that it has recently convened a meeting with Google and social media platforms -- YouTube, Meta (Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp), X, Snapchat, ShareChat, Reddit, and Bumble -- to deliberate upon a host of issues like mechanisms for age verification, safety tools used by the sites, among others.

During the meeting, mechanisms for detecting and reporting Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and methods for restriction and blocking of CSAM were also discussed.

There were also discussions on support (by the social media platforms) towards the law enforcement agencies, tools adopted for identifying deep fakes and tracing predators, and measures for protecting the victims as well as their privacy.

The statement mentioned that the talks also focussed on parameters for reporting (matters of concern) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and measures to protect children from explicit content on social media.

The statement further mentioned that during the meeting, a consensus was reached between the social media platforms and NCPCR on several key points.

"For the safety and security of children on platforms, the social media platforms must follow robust Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and Section 9 of Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which is an Act passed by Parliament, and we all have to maintain its sanctity," it read.

Deliberations were also held on the mandatory reporting of CSAM. "Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, online platforms must be legally obligated to report instances of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) directly to local law enforcement authorities," the statement read.

Besides, it was also stressed that social media platforms should be permitted to enter contracts with minors only upon obtaining explicit consent from their parents or legal guardians, and the platforms must display disclaimers in English, Hindi and local/regional languages before showing any adult content.

"These disclaimers should warn parents that they may be held liable if a child views adult content under the aforementioned legal provisions," the statement noted.

"Furthermore, social media platforms are requested to provide data on the total number of cases submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for the period of January 2024 to June 2024. This data should include categories of image or video hashes (unique digital fingerprints), content details (e.g., child pornography, child exploitation), time-stamped logs, metadata, and any other relevant information shared. It is requested to ensure the implementation of the above recommendations and to submit an Action Taken Report to the Commission within 7 days of the issue of this letter," the NCPCR statement read.

--IANS

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