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India: Meta to report child abuse cases to law enforcement
India: Meta to report child abuse cases to law enforcement
Dharvi Vaid DhuliaPublished 09/15/2026Published September 15, 2026last updated 09/15/2026last updated September 15, 2026The tech giant Meta will now directly report cases related to child safety to India's cybercrime portal, media report.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MbQFWhat you need to know
This blog is closed. Here is a roundup of some of the top headlines from India on tuesday, September 15.
- Amid intense scrutiny in India following reported paid ads promoting child sexual abuse material, the social media giant Meta will now reportedly lodge cases related to child safety with Indian law enforcement agencies
- Air India's CEO has been summoned after three Italian nationals "skipped" immigration at Delhi airport and left the country
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Skip next section WATCH — How India has become Russia's trade lifeline09/15/2026September 15, 2026WATCH — How India has become Russia's trade lifeline
Marta GrudzinskaIndia and Russia are strengthening their economic partnership despite Western sanctions and global uncertainty.
As both sides seek deeper cooperation and greater financial independence, the relationship is evolving far beyond its traditional focus on defense, with potentially significant implications for global trade and energy markets.
Find out more in this report:
How India has become Russia's trade lifeline
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MdJSSkip next section India and Vietnam boost defense ties09/15/2026September 15, 2026
India and Vietnam boost defense ties
India and Vietnam have agreed to step up their defense relations, through joint production of military equipment.
The decision was taken during the 19th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, which India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Vietnam's Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung co-chaired in New Delhi on Monday.
"Vietnam is a key pillar of India's Act East Policy. Rooted in deep civilisational linkages, the India-Vietnam Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership continues to grow from strength to strength across established and new areas of cooperation," a statement from India's foreign ministry said.
The two nations will also observe 2027 as the Year of India-Vietnam Friendship to commemorate 55 years of their diplomatic relations.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MdDJSkip next section Suspect arrested in viral Gurugram woman biker hit-and-run case09/15/2026September 15, 2026Suspect arrested in viral Gurugram woman biker hit-and-run case
The driver of a car accused of hitting a female motorbike rider in Gurugram — a satellite city of Delhi — was arrested on Tuesday, two days after a video of the incident went viral, triggering widespread outrage on social media.
Shivani Chauhan, who identifies herself as Sia, was riding with a group of her biker friends on Sunday when the incident took place.
In footage shot on a bike-mounted camera shared on Sia's Instagram profile, a white sedan is seen hitting her bike, sending her rolling over on the concrete road as her bike skids away.
The video has a voiceover of Sia in Hindi, wherein she alleges that the driver of the car was trying to "chase" her from the start and "fled" after hitting her.
The video shows the car driver gesturing towards Sia.
"He (the driver) told me to stop the bike, and trust me they all were drunk," the biker said, referring to the people in the car.
Sia said that her friend tried to flag the car down after she was hit.
The video purportedly shows the friend trying to open the car's door at a red light before the vehicle drives off.
The Gurugram police registered the case after the video quickly gained online traction.
What does the accused say?
The driver, identified as Kalyan Bainsla, was arrested in the state of Rajasthan on Tuesday.
The case was initially registered with charges of rash driving and endangering life or personal safety. Police then also added a charge of attempted murder, which carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.
Bainsla, a gym owner, has denied hitting Sia deliberately. He also claims that he did not realize initially that a woman was among the group of bikers.
"I was traveling with my family. I didn't make any gestures at the young woman; I simply asked her to ride her bike slowly. I admit that a collision occurred. Had I stopped right then, those people would have beaten us up," he was quoted by Indian media as saying.
Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Bainsla's lawyer accused the group of bikers, which he said had some 20-30 riders, of "speeding" and "performing stunts."
"The collision between the car and the bike occurred simply because of the speed at which they were driving. It is strictly a case of negligence — nothing more to it than that," lawyer Naveen Bainsla told ANI.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Md50Skip next section Air India CEO summoned over alleged immigration lapse: reports09/15/2026September 15, 2026Air India CEO summoned over alleged immigration lapse: reports
The Indian government has summoned Air India's CEO over an alleged procedural lapse that saw three Italian nationals reportedly fly out of Delhi airport without undergoing a required departure immigration clearance, news agency ANI reported on Tuesday.
India's Ministry of Civil Aviation has reportedly issued a show-cause notice to Air India and has sought explanation on the alleged violation of immigration procedures.
On September 4, the Italian nationals flew into the Indian capital from the city of Amritsar. A short time later, they left Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for Germany's Munich on board a Lufthansa flight without the mandatory immigration check, Indian media reports said.
Air India and Lufthansa have a codeshare partnership.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has deemed the incident a "serious security and immigration-related lapse," ANI reported, citing sources.
One year after Air India crash, families still seek answers
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https://p.dw.com/p/5McM1Skip next section Meta to report child sexual abuse material to India's cybercrime portal: reports 09/15/2026September 15, 2026Meta to report child sexual abuse material to India's cybercrime portal: reports
Meta has agreed to report child safety-related matters, including child sexual abuse cases, to law enforcement agencies in India, Indian media reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.
News agency PTI quoted a Meta spokesperson as saying the cases would now be reported to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre.
The US tech giant has come under fire in India in recent months over alleged paid advertisements promoting AI-generated child sexual abuse material on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
"Meta has agreed to report child safety-related matters to the appropriate law enforcement agencies. It is a first step towards making the platforms safe for children and much more needs to be done," news agency ANI quoted unnamed government sources as saying.
The Indian government is engaging with other online platforms to ensure that they identify and remove such content proactively, news agency PTI cited government sources as saying.
ANI and PTI also quoted sources saying that the government would take action against platforms that fail to take proactive measures to ensure online child safety.
The news agencies were told by the sources that online safety of children is a "fundamental principle" for any social media platform operating in India and was "non-negotiable."
Meta under scrutiny in India
In July, an investigative report by the BBC found that Instagram had been running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) later ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to such material.
The ministry also demanded a detailed explanation on the issue and held several rounds of discussions with top Meta executives.
Last week, India's National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoned the managing director and head of Meta India over its inquiry into alleged ads related to child sexual exploitative and abuse material.
Meanwhile, a US-based nonprofit Tech Transparency Project (TTP) published a report saying that it had found more than 300 ads with child sexual abuse material that ran on Facebook and Instagram this year.
It said that 84 of the ads ran in India — 78 of them after the Indian government directive to Meta to remove any Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material.
Never do THIS with your kids' photos!
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MbaiSkip next section Welcome to our coverage 09/15/2026September 15, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Dharvi Vaid Dhulia | Natalie Muller EditorThis is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW's studio in New Delhi, bringing you our Tuesday news wrap of all the biggest headlines that are making a splash in India.
First up, Meta has reportedly agreed to flag child sexual abuse content to Indian law enforcement agencies as the US tech giant faces growing scrutiny in the South Asian nation over child safety.
In another development, the CEO of the country's flag carrier — Air India — has been summoned by the civil aviation ministry over an immigration lapse that saw three foreign nationals flying out of India without a mandatory departure immigration clearance.
Meanwhile, in news from the world of international relations, India and Vietnam are boosting their defense ties, including through co-production of military hardware
Stay tuned as we bring you all this and more.
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