YouTube Denies Child Sexual Abuse Content on Platform Amidst Government Inquiry

YouTube Denies Child Sexual Abuse Content on Platform Amidst Government Inquiry

VoM News Desk | October 16, 2023 | 08:55 PM IST | Breaking News, Social Media | Follow on Google News

YouTube Denies Child Sexual Abuse Content on Platform Amidst Government Inquiry

YouTube Denies Child Sexual Abuse Content on Platform Amidst Government Inquiry

YouTube stated on Monday that it had not identified any materials related to child sexual abuse on its platform, despite extensive investigations, and had not received any evidence of such content from regulators. This statement comes in response to government notices issued earlier in the month to social media platforms, including YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram, urging them to remove child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India.

The YouTube spokesperson explained, “We have a long history of successfully fighting child exploitation on YouTube. Based on multiple thorough investigations, we did not detect CSAM on our platform, nor did we receive examples or evidence of CSAM on YouTube from regulators.”

YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, emphasized that it strictly prohibits any content that endangers minors on its platform and will continue to invest heavily in teams and technologies to identify, remove, and deter the spread of such content. The spokesperson added, “We are committed to working with all collaborators in the industry-wide fight to stop the spread of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).”

In Q2 2023, YouTube removed more than 94,000 channels and over 2.5 million videos for violating its child safety policy. In India, the platform displays a warning at the top of search results for specific queries related to CSAM, alerting users that child sexual abuse imagery is illegal and providing a link to the national cybercrime reporting portal.

The government had issued notices to social media platforms X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and Telegram on October 6, instructing them to eliminate child sexual abuse material from their platforms in India. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, had warned that if social media intermediaries failed to act promptly, they could lose their safe harbor status under section 79 of the IT Act, making them liable for prosecution under applicable laws, even if the content was not uploaded by them.

The government’s notices also called for the implementation of proactive measures, including content moderation algorithms and reporting mechanisms, to prevent the future dissemination of CSAM.

VoM News Desk

VoM News is an online web portal in jammu Kashmir offers regional, National & global news.