YouTube Assures Indian Government No Child Sexual Abuse Material Found on Platform
YouTube said on Monday that after several investigations, it has not detected any Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSAM) on its platform and has submitted its official response to the IT Ministry after being notified, along with other social media. brokers last week, MeitY to remove all CSAM from their platforms.
In a statement to IANS, a YouTube spokesperson said that “after several thorough investigations, we did not detect CSAM on our platform and we did not receive any examples or evidence of CSAM on YouTube from regulatory authorities.”
The spokesperson added that YouTube does not allow any content that endangers minors.
“We continue to invest heavily in teams and technologies that detect, remove and prevent the spread of this content. We are committed to working with all partners in the industry-wide fight to prevent the spread of CSAM,” said a company spokesperson.
According to the platform, the majority of videos on YouTube featuring minors do not violate its policies. But when it comes to children, YouTube is “very cautious about enforcement.”
The Ministry of Electronics and IT had issued notices to social media brokers X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and Telegram, warning them to remove any form of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from their platforms on the Indian internet or face action.
“The provisions of the IT Act set strict expectations for social media intermediaries that they may not allow criminal or harmful messages on their platforms. If they do not act quickly, their safe harbor under Section 79 of the IT Act will be revoked and consequences under Indian law will follow,” said Union Electronics and IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The Information Technology (IT) Act 2000 provides the legal framework for dealing with pornographic content, including CSAM.
Sections 66 E, 67, 67A and 67 B of the IT Act impose severe penalties and fines for transmitting obscene or pornographic content online.
According to YouTube, in India, “we get a warning at the top of search results for certain CSAM-related search queries.”
This warning states that child sexual abuse images are illegal and links to the National Online Crime Reporting Portal.
