National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Priyank Kanoongo has urged the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) to investigate the financial relationship between Meta and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), citing concerns over a potential conflict of interest in the ongoing government probe into alleged child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on Meta-owned platforms. 

What was in the letter: Kanoongo said that Legal Rights Observatory had informed him that UNICEF was approaching Indian authorities and offering its expertise in dealing with CSAM, even as government agencies investigate allegations involving Meta. However, he said the activist group had raised concerns over UNICEF’s financial relationship with the social media company.

“Legal Rights Observatory group informed, they said, on different Meta platforms, child sexual abuse and exploitative materials were being sold as ads, different agencies of GoI are investigating, we have also found about 100 such instances,” Kanoongo said.

He added that the activist group had flagged UNICEF’s offer to assist Indian agencies, citing their expertise in CSAM materials. However, the group considered this position contradictory, given that Meta has provided millions of dollars to UNICEF and continues to fund the organisation.

“Therefore, there is a concern that this organisation, which is supposed to work on the issue of child sexual exploitation material while receiving funding from Meta, might end up serving Meta’s interests,” Kanoongo said.

Additionally, he revealed that had brought the matter to the attention of the WCD ministry, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). Kanoongo urged the authorities to account for the alleged conflict of interest while conducting investigations and taking enforcement action.

According toKanoongo, Meta should not be allowed to use UNICEF as a “shield to evade accountability”, adding that the allegations of vested interests being served through financial funding should not turn out to be true.

Government Scrutiny Of Meta Over CSAM: The letter comes months after a BBC Eye documentary, aired in July, allegedly found that Instagram was running paid advertisements promoting CSAM in India. Kanoongo said the NHRC had identified around 100 such instances.

Following the allegations, the Centre summoned Meta’s top leadership and directed the company to strengthen its CSAM detection mechanisms, increase human oversight of content moderation and improve safeguards for content in Indian languages and local contexts.

The government had also reportedly considered withdrawing Meta’s safe harbour protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Such a move could expose the company to greater legal liability for illegal content hosted on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. In September amid government scrutiny, Meta agreed to report instances of child sexual abuse to India’s cybercrime reporting portal, managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

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