Introduction

At 4 pm on August 3, 2026, representatives of Meta, X, Snapchat and Google walked into a room in Parliament to face India's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology. On paper, it looked like one more instance of a routine that has repeated for half a decade: a Big Tech company gets called in, questioned, and sent away with a warning. But this summons, and the fortnight of scrutiny that has followed it, reveals something different about the direction of India's digital governance in 2026. The government's question has stopped being, "Will you take this post down?" It has increasingly become, "How does your platform actually work, and can we redesign the parts we don't like?"

The trigger: A technical glitch that became a systemic complaint

The proximate cause of the August 3 hearing was almost trivial by itself. On July 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a video on Instagram and Facebook about the government's crackdown on examination paper leaks. Meta briefly restricted the Facebook version before restoring it, blaming the removal on a technical error in its automated filters.

That explanation didn't satisfy the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), which called it inadequate, and the incident became the occasion for a much broader reckoning. Committee chairperson Nishikant Dubey summoned Meta, X, Snapchat and Google to examine three things: the online safety of women and children; the data privacy of ordinary citizens, including farmers and labourers; and how far platforms actually comply with India's law-and-order requirements. Days later, MeitY brought Meta's global team in for two days of direct questioning that stretched into a third day of technical discussions covering child sexual abuse material (CSAM), deepfakes, bot accounts and, notably, the design of Instagram's content-recommendation algorithm itself.

From takedown notices to systems audits

For most of the last decade, India's approach to online harm ran through blocking orders and the "notice-and-takedown" machinery built into the IT Rules, 2021: a court or government authority flags a specific URL or post, the platform has a fixed window to act, and non-compliance risks the loss of legal immunity. It was a model built around individual pieces of content.

What is unfolding now looks structurally different. Officials aren't only asking Meta to remove a video; they are asking why its recommendation systems keep resurfacing flagged material, why "verified" accounts belonging to prominent or official figures don't have extra layers of human review before restriction, and why bot-detection and CSAM-screening pipelines aren't catching harmful content before it spreads. The Supreme Court-monitored committee tracking "digital arrest" fraud has gone further still, directing MeitY, the Department of Telecommunications and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to study time-based restrictions on audio and video calls altogether, a proposal that touches the basic architecture of how calling features work, not any single conversation.

Parliament's committee has separately pushed for a national registration system that would require every intermediary operating in India to publicly list its grievance officer, nodal contact and compliance officer as a response to law enforcement's repeated difficulty simply reaching a platform when something goes wrong. It has also asked for tighter regulation of digital advertising, which officials say is routinely exploited for cyber fraud, and for rules under Section 67C of the IT Act governing how long intermediaries must preserve user data. None of this is about any one post; it is about redesigning the infrastructure platforms use to operate in India.

Messaging apps and the encryption problem

Nowhere is the shift from "content" to "architecture" clearer than in the government's dealings with peer-to-peer messaging platforms. WhatsApp has spent years contesting the traceability requirement under Rule 4(2) of the IT Rules in the Delhi High Court, arguing it would rather exit India than build a permanent capability to identify the "first originator" of every message since doing so would mean re-engineering its end-to-end encryption for all users, not just suspects.

That fight has resurfaced in a new form. In a submission to the parliamentary committee, WhatsApp argued that new rules requiring platforms to detect and label AI-generated "synthetic" content cannot technically apply inside encrypted chats because no one outside a conversation "not even WhatsApp" can see what's inside it. Signal has proven even harder to engage with: MeitY told the committee it has struggled to establish formal contact with the app, which does not publicly list a grievance officer, exposing how little leverage the government currently has over encrypted, minimally staffed platforms compared with advertising-funded giants like Meta and Google. The proposal to cap or restrict call durations to fight "digital arrest" scams is, in effect, an attempt to regulate a messaging feature rather than any message sent through it, perhaps the clearest sign yet that the fight has moved from posts to plumbing.

The future of "safe harbour"

Underpinning all of this is Section 79 of the IT Act,  the "safe harbour" clause that shields platforms from liability for what their users post, provided they exercise due diligence. That protection is now being squeezed from three directions at once. The parliamentary committee has unanimously recommended withdrawing safe harbour from platforms that don't comply with Indian law and said it should be pulled specifically from Meta unless its CEO apologises over the PM's video takedown, though a committee cannot itself revoke a statutory protection; only Parliament can amend Section 79. Separately, the Supreme Court-monitored panel on digital-arrest fraud is examining an explicit provision making intermediaries liable for the misuse of their platforms so that fraud victims could claim compensation directly. And MeitY's draft Second Amendment Rules, circulated in March 2026, go furthest of all: they propose making safe harbour conditional on real-time compliance with executive directions, rather than a general protection available to any platform that follows published rules, which is a more direct, command-driven model than even the European Union's Digital Services Act.

Why this matters beyond the headlines

For the ordinary internet user, none of this is abstract. A registration-and-disclosure regime, together with faster and more accountable grievance handling, could make it easier to get genuinely harmful content addressed. But architecture-level intervention cuts both ways. Rules aimed at traceability or at labelling encrypted content risk weakening the very privacy protections that make messaging apps trustworthy in the first place, and a safe harbour that hinges on obeying informal executive directions, rather than settled published law, hands the government far more day-to-day leverage over what stays online. The Supreme Court has listed the digital-arrest matter for September 16; how it, and Parliament, ultimately treat Section 79 will decide whether India's platforms remain neutral pipes carrying other people's speech or become extensions of state enforcement.

Conclusion

India’s digital-governance battle is no longer confined to individual posts or takedown orders. It is increasingly about the architecture beneath the internet: recommendation engines, encryption, verification, data retention and safe-harbour protections. That shift may strengthen accountability and user safety, but it also expands the state’s influence over digital infrastructure. As Parliament and the Supreme Court confront these questions, India faces a fundamental choice: regulate platforms or reshape how they operate.

Sources

• Parliament panel summons Meta, X, Google, Snapchat over digital safety — Hindustan Times
• Parliamentary panel summons Meta, Google, X and Snapchat over social media regulation — Economic Times
• Parliamentary Panel Summons Meta, X, Google on Digital Safety Rules — Asianet Newsable
• Panel Summons Meta, X, Snapchat, Google for Safety Review — New Kerala
• Meta, X, Google and Snapchat summoned by parliamentary panel on August 3 — BestMediaInfo

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Overview:

In today’s digital landscape, safeguarding personal data and communications is more crucial than ever. WhatsApp, as one of the world’s leading messaging platforms, consistently enhances its security features to protect user interactions, offering a seamless and private messaging experience

App Lock: Secure Access with Biometric Authentication

To fortify security at the device level, WhatsApp offers an app lock feature, enabling users to protect their app with biometric authentication such as fingerprint or Face ID. This feature ensures that only authorized users can access the app, adding an additional layer of protection to private conversations.

How to Enable App Lock:

1. Open WhatsApp and navigate to Settings.
2. Select Privacy.
3. Scroll down and tap App Lock.
4. Activate Fingerprint Lock or Face ID and follow the on-screen instructions.

Chat Lock: Restrict Access to Private Conversations

WhatsApp allows users to lock specific chats, moving them to a secured folder that requires biometric authentication or a passcode for access. This feature is ideal for safeguarding sensitive conversations from unauthorized viewing.

How to Lock a Chat:

1. Open WhatsApp and select the chat to be locked.
2. Tap on the three dots (Android) or More Options (iPhone).
3. Select Lock Chat
4. Enable the lock using Fingerprint or Face ID.

Privacy Checkup: Strengthening Security Preferences

The privacy checkup tool assists users in reviewing and customizing essential security settings. It provides guidance on adjusting visibility preferences, call security, and blocked contacts, ensuring a personalized and secure communication experience.

How to Run Privacy Checkup:

1. Open WhatsApp and navigate to Settings.
2. Tap Privacy.
3. Select Privacy Checkup and follow the prompts to adjust settings.

Automatic Blocking of Unknown Accounts and Messages

To combat spam and potential security threats, WhatsApp automatically restricts unknown accounts that send excessive messages. Users can also manually block or report suspicious contacts to further enhance security.

How to Manage Blocking of Unknown Accounts:

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
2. Select Privacy.
3. Tap to Advanced 
4. Enable Block unknown account messages

IP Address Protection in Calls

To prevent tracking and enhance privacy, WhatsApp provides an option to hide IP addresses during calls. When enabled, calls are routed through WhatsApp’s servers, preventing location exposure via direct connections.

How to Enable IP Address Protection in Calls:

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
2. Select Privacy, then tap Advanced.
3. Enable Protect IP Address in Calls. 

Disappearing Messages: Auto-Deleting Conversations

Disappearing messages help maintain confidentiality by automatically deleting sent messages after a predefined period—24 hours, 7 days, or 90 days. This feature is particularly beneficial for reducing digital footprints.

How to Enable Disappearing Messages:

1. Open the chat and tap the Chat Name.
2. Select Disappearing Messages.
3. Choose the preferred duration before messages disappear.

View Once: One-Time Access to Media Files

The ‘View Once’ feature ensures that shared photos and videos can only be viewed a single time before being automatically deleted, reducing the risk of unauthorized storage or redistribution.

How to Send View Once Media:

1. Open a chat and tap the attachment icon.
2. Choose Camera or Gallery to select media.
3. Tap the ‘1’ icon before sending the media file.

Group Privacy Controls: Manage Who Can Add You

WhatsApp provides users with the ability to control group invitations, preventing unwanted additions by unknown individuals. Users can restrict group invitations to ‘Everyone,’ ‘My Contacts,’ or ‘My Contacts Except…’ for enhanced privacy.

How to Adjust Group Privacy Settings:

1. Open WhatsApp and go to Settings.
2. Select Privacy and tap Groups.
3. Choose from the available options: Everyone, My Contacts, or My Contacts Except

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Conclusion

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WhatsApp continuously enhances its security features to protect user privacy and ensure safe communication. With tools like App Lock, Chat Lock, Privacy Checkup, IP Address Protection, and Disappearing Messages, users can safeguard their data and interactions. Features like View Once and Group Privacy Controls further enhance confidentiality. By enabling these settings, users can maintain a secure and private messaging experience, effectively reducing risks associated with unauthorized access, tracking, and digital footprints. Stay updated and leverage these features for enhanced security.

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Introduction and Brief Analysis

A movie named “The Artifice Girl” portrayed A law enforcement agency developing an AI-based personification of a 12-year-old girl who appears to be exactly like a real person. Believing her to be an actual girl, perpetrators of child sexual exploitation were caught attempting to seek sexual favours. The movie showed how AI aided law enforcement, but the reality is that the emergence of Artificial Intelligence has posed numerous challenges in multiple directions. This example illustrates both the promise and the complexity of using AI in sensitive areas like law enforcement, where technological innovation must be carefully balanced with ethical and legal considerations.

Detection and Protection tools are constantly competing with technologies that generate content, automate grooming and challenge legal boundaries. Such technological advancements have provided enough ground for the proliferation of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM). Also known as child pornography under Section 2 (da) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, it defined it as - “means any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which includes a photograph, video, digital or computer-generated image indistinguishable from an actual child and image created, adapted, or modified, but appears to depict a child.”

Artificial Intelligence is a category of technologies that attempt to shape human thoughts and behaviours using input algorithms and datasets. Two Primary applications can be considered in the context of CSEAM: classifiers and content generators. Classifiers are programs that learn from large data sets, which may be labelled or unlabelled and further classify what is restricted or illegal. Whereas generative AI is also trained on large datasets, it uses that knowledge to create new things. Majority of current AI research related to AI for CSEAM is done by the use of Artificial neural networks (ANNs), a type of AI that can be trained to identify unusual connections between items (classification) and to generate unique combinations of items (e.g., elements of a picture) based on the training data used.

Current Legal Landscape

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The legal Landscape in terms of AI is yet unclear and evolving, with different nations trying to track the evolution of AI and develop laws. However, some laws directly address CSEAM. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) combats Illegal sexual content involving children. They have a “Model Legislation” for setting recommended sanctions/sentencing. According to research performed in 2018, Illegal sexual content involving children is illegal in 118 of the 196 Interpol member states. This figure represents countries that have sufficient legislation in place to meet 4 or 5 of the 5 criteria defined by the ICMEC.

CSEAM in India can be reported on various portals like the ‘National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal’. Online crimes related to children, including CSEAM, can be reported to this portal by visiting cybercrime.gov.in. This portal allows anonymous reporting, automatic FIR registration and tracking of your complaint. ‘I4C Sahyog Portal’ is another platform managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). This portal integrates with social media platforms.

The Indian legal front for AI is evolving and CSEAM is well addressed in Indian laws and through judicial pronouncements. The Supreme Court judgement on Alliance and Anr v S Harish and ors is a landmark in this regard. The following principles were highlighted in this judgment.

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• The term “child pornography” should be substituted by “Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material” (CSEAM) and shall not be used for any further judicial proceeding, order, or judgment. Also, parliament should amend the same in POCSO and instead, the term CSEAM should be endorsed.
• Parliament to consider amending Section 15 (1) of POCSO to make it more convenient for the general public to report by way of an online portal.
• Implementing sex education programs to give young people a clear understanding of consent and the consequences of exploitation. To help prevent Problematic sexual behaviour (PSB), schools should teach students about consent, healthy relationships and appropriate behaviour.
• Support services to the victims and rehabilitation programs for the offenders are essential.
• Early identification of at-risk individuals and implementation of intervention strategies for youth.

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Distinctive Challenges

According to a report by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a significant number of reports about child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) are linked to perpetrators based outside the country. This highlights major challenges related to jurisdiction and anonymity in addressing such crimes. Since the issue concerns children and considering the cross-border nature of the internet and the emergence of AI, Nations across the globe need to come together to solve this matter. Delays in the extradition procedure and irregular legal processes across the jurisdictions hinder the apprehension of offenders and the delivery of justice to victims.

CyberPeace Recommendations

For effective regulation of AI-generated CSEAM, laws are required to be strengthened for AI developers and trainers to prevent misuse of their tools. AI should be designed with its ethical considerations, ensuring respect for privacy, consent and child rights. There can be a self-regulation mechanism for AI models to recognise and restrict red flags related to CSEAM and indicate grooming or potential abuse.

A distinct Indian CSEAM reporting portal is urgently needed, as cybercrimes are increasing throughout the nation. Depending on the integrated portal may lead to ignorance of AI-based CSEAM cases. This would result in faster response and focused tracking. Since AI-generated content is detectable. The portal should also include an automated AI-content detection system linked directly to law enforcement for swift action.

Furthermore, International cooperation is of utmost importance to win the battle of AI-enabled challenges and to fill the jurisdictional gaps. A united global effort is required. Using a common technology and unified international laws is essential to tackle AI-driven child sexual exploitation across borders and protect children everywhere. CSEAM is an extremely serious issue. Children are among the most vulnerable to such harmful content. This threat must be addressed without delay, through stronger policies, dedicated reporting mechanisms and swift action to protect children from exploitation.

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References:

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950193824000433?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=94efffff09e95975
• https://aasc.assam.gov.in/sites/default/files/swf_utility_folder/departments/aasc_webcomindia_org_oi d_4/portlet/level_2/pocso_act.pdf
• https://www.manupatracademy.com/assets/pdf/legalpost/just-rights-for-children-alliance-and-anr-vs-s‍harish-and-ors.pdfhttps://www.icmec.org‍https://www.missingkids.org/theissues/generative-ai

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