Google has agreed to move towards directly reporting cases involving child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to Indian authorities, marking a significant change from the international reporting process followed by the company.
Reports to be shared with Indian cybercrime authorities
Google has proposed sharing relevant information on CSAM cases with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The move follows discussions with the Indian government and comes days after Meta announced a similar change.
Google has traditionally reported suspected CSAM through the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), which acts as an international clearing house and forwards reports to law enforcement agencies in the relevant countries.
Indian authorities have raised concerns that routing reports through an overseas intermediary could delay police intervention, particularly when a child may be facing immediate danger. Google said it invests significantly in detecting, removing and reporting CSAM and described the proposed arrangement as part of its ongoing discussions with the government.
India pushes for faster action
The development comes amid increased government scrutiny of online child safety. India has been pressing major technology platforms to ensure that suspected abuse material is detected, removed and reported promptly to domestic authorities.
The scale of the challenge is global. NCMEC’s CyberTipline received more than 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation worldwide in 2025.
For India, direct reporting could enable domestic agencies to receive information more quickly and act within the country’s legal and investigative framework.