Zero tolerance for sexual abuse content, committed to removing it: Telegram, YouTube

Instant messaging platform Telegram on Saturday said it was committed to complying with the Information Technology Act and any related notices issued by either state or central law enforcement for immediate removal of child pornography (CP), child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape and gang rape (RGR) content.

“We take immediate and stringent action as prescribed by the law of the land in response to any such violations. When CP/CSAM/RGR content is reported, we initiate prompt actions to remove the offending material,” the platform said in a statement.

In its response to the notice sent by the IT ministry, YouTube said it had removed over 94,000 channels and over 2.5 million videos for violating its child safety policies in the April-June period.


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“We have a zero-tolerance policy on child sexual abuse material. No form of content that endangers minors is acceptable to us. We will continue to work with experts inside and outside of YouTube to provide minors and families the best protections possible,” the company said in its statement on Saturday.

An email sent to X (Twitter) elicited an automated response: “Busy now, please check back later.”

The responses from Telegram and YouTube came a day after the government issued notices to the three platforms, asking them to remove pornographic, child sexual abuse material and adult sexual violence content.

The notice by the ministry of electronics and information technology was sent on Friday, a day after ET reached out to senior officials seeking their response to the presence of sexual abuse material on Telegram.

ET had on Saturday reported that pornographic and violent content, including CSAM, is freely available in India on Telegram, and widely disseminated through public and private channels in the form of links to videos and photos. Our six-month-long investigation revealed that such links are shared through Telegram’s Channels and hosted on Chinese cloud platforms.

In its response on Saturday, Telegram also said that it uses “an automated BOT system” to proactively remove pornographic, child sexual abuse and adult sexual abuse material.

“This BOT continually scans the platform for explicit material by identifying keywords, text, pictures, and videos that violate our guidelines. Additionally, we take proactive steps to remove or block content based on user reports, ensuring that explicit material is swiftly addressed,” the platform said.