The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has met representatives of Google India and Telegram and questioned the two platforms on how they detect and report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on their services, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Source: Hindustan Times via Inshorts

The commission will send both platforms a formal questionnaire, seeking written responses within 10 to 12 days. During the meeting, the companies were reminded that such cases must be reported directly to Indian agencies, and not only to the US-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), through which reports have traditionally been routed before reaching Indian authorities.

The executives' appearance is part of an inquiry the NCPCR opened after taking suo motu cognisance of allegations that paid advertisements on Instagram allegedly facilitated access to child sexual abuse and exploitation material. Meta, which owns Instagram, appeared before the commission earlier and has since submitted its response; NCPCR sources said that response is under scrutiny. The allegation against the advertisements remains an allegation and has not been adjudicated.

Source: India News feed via Top Online Breaking News

The questioning follows months of pressure on large platforms over child-safety reporting in India. Google had earlier agreed to report India-linked CSAM directly to Indian law enforcement agencies instead of routing every report through NCMEC, a step officials said would cut delays in cases where a child may be at immediate risk. MediaNama has reported that the wider scrutiny also involves platforms' reporting duties under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Source: MediaNama

Neither Google nor Telegram has issued a public statement on the meeting so far. What the commission does next will depend on the written answers the two platforms file in response to its questionnaire.