Child Safety Standards

1. Our Commitment to Child Safety

Bhim Bandhan is a social platform accessible to users aged 13 and above. The protection of minors from sexual abuse, exploitation, and grooming is the highest priority of our platform safety program. We maintain a comprehensive, multi-layered approach to preventing, detecting, and responding to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSAE).

Our child safety standards apply to every user, every piece of content, every message, and every interaction on our platform — without exception. These standards are not subject to context, artistic merit claims, cultural relativism, or any other justification. They are absolute.

This document describes our standards against CSAE in compliance with the Google Play Store Child Safety Standards Policy and applicable Indian law, including the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

2. Zero Tolerance Policy

Bhim Bandhan maintains an absolute zero tolerance policy toward any content, behavior, or account that involves or facilitates the sexual abuse or exploitation of children. This policy admits no exceptions, regardless of the form of the content, the claimed intent of the user, or any other circumstances.

3. Prohibited Content and Conduct

The following are strictly and absolutely prohibited on Bhim Bandhan with no exceptions:

3.1 Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)

• Any image, video, audio, illustration, or digitally generated content that sexually depicts or portrays a minor (any person under 18 years of age).
• Any content that sexualizes the body of a minor, regardless of whether explicit nudity is present.
• AI-generated, animated, illustrated, or otherwise non-photographic sexual depictions of minors (including hentai, cartoons, drawings, and written erotica involving minors).
• Morphed, edited, or digitally altered content that places a real minor into sexually explicit situations.

3.2 Grooming and Exploitation

• Any communication, behavior, or content designed to establish inappropriate emotional relationships with minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
• Soliciting personal information from minors, including location, school name, home address, or contact details, for any purpose that could facilitate contact or exploitation.
• Offering gifts, money, or other inducements to minors in exchange for sexual content or contact.
• Using the platform to arrange, facilitate, or coordinate in-person contact with minors for sexual purposes.
• Sharing contact information with minors for the purpose of moving communication to private channels for exploitation.

3.3 Content Endangering Minors

• Sharing or publishing personal identifying information of minors, including name, school, location, photographs, or daily routine.
• Any content that facilitates, encourages, or instructs physical contact between adults and minors for any harmful purpose.
• Content that normalizes, glorifies, or minimizes the sexual abuse or exploitation of children.
• Recruitment of minors into any activity that could expose them to exploitation, abuse, or harm.

4. Detection and Enforcement

We employ multiple layers of detection to proactively identify and eliminate CSAM and CSAE content from our platform:

4.1 Automated Detection

• PhotoDNA Hash Matching: All images and videos uploaded to the platform are scanned against the PhotoDNA database of known CSAM hashes maintained by NCMEC and the Internet Watch Foundation. Matches trigger immediate removal and reporting.
• AI Content Scanning: Machine learning classifiers scan content for indicators of child sexual exploitation, including grooming language patterns in messages and previously undetected CSAM.
• Behavioral Signals: Automated systems flag accounts exhibiting behavioral patterns associated with grooming, including unusual communication patterns with accounts identified as minors.

4.2 Human Review

• Dedicated child safety reviewers are trained to identify CSAM and CSAE content, including grooming behavior and non-photographic material not detectable by hash matching.
• All user reports of child safety violations are triaged immediately and reviewed as highest priority — within 1 hour of receipt.
• Human reviewers assess context in borderline cases but apply a highly conservative standard: when in doubt, the content is removed.

4.3 Enforcement Actions

5. Reporting Child Safety Violations

Every user has a responsibility to report child safety violations. We have made reporting as simple and accessible as possible:

5.1 How to Report

1. 1Tap the three-dot menu (⋮) on any post, profile, comment, or message.
2. 2Select "Report."
3. 3Choose "Child Endangerment or Exploitation" as the report category.
4. 4Provide any additional context in the optional text field.
5. 5Submit the report. Our child safety team is notified immediately.

5.2 Report Handling

• All child safety reports are triaged as highest priority and reviewed within 1 hour of submission.
• The identity of the reporting user is kept strictly confidential and will never be disclosed to the reported account.
• The reported content is immediately placed under review and may be hidden pending investigation.
• If a report is confirmed, the account is permanently terminated and the content and relevant user data are preserved for law enforcement.

6. Law Enforcement Cooperation

Bhim Bandhan proactively cooperates with law enforcement agencies in all matters involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of children:

• NCMEC CyberTipline: All confirmed CSAM is reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline as required under applicable law, including for users outside India.
• Indian Law Enforcement: Confirmed CSAM incidents are reported to the relevant Indian law enforcement authorities, including the Cyber Crime Cell of the Indian Police Service, in compliance with the POCSO Act, 2012, and the IT Act, 2000.
• Data Preservation: We preserve all evidence associated with CSAM accounts — including content, account data, IP addresses, device identifiers, and communication logs — for the duration of any law enforcement investigation, regardless of any account deletion request.
• Emergency Disclosure: We will disclose user information to law enforcement without a court order in situations involving an imminent threat to the life or safety of a child.
• Full Cooperation: We respond to all lawful requests from law enforcement including subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, and emergency requests related to child safety without delay.

7. Prevention and Education

7.1 Age Restrictions

• The Application is not intended for users under the age of 13. We do not knowingly allow children under 13 to register.
• Users between the ages of 13 and 17 are treated as minors and receive additional safety defaults, including restricted messaging settings and limited discoverability.
• We take steps to identify and remove accounts of users who misrepresent their age to gain access to the platform.

7.2 Safety Defaults for Minor Accounts

• Accounts identified as belonging to users under 18 default to "private" account settings.
• Direct messages from users not followed by the minor are restricted by default.
• Accounts belonging to minors are not shown in public discovery or "suggested users" features.
• Content from accounts belonging to minors is not promoted or amplified in public discovery feeds.

7.3 Parental Guidance

We encourage parents and guardians to actively supervise their children's use of this Application. Users aged 13–17 may only use the Application with the knowledge and consent of a parent or legal guardian. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has registered without your consent, please contact us immediately using the contact details in Section 8 to have the account reviewed and, if appropriate, removed.

8. Contact and Escalation

For any child safety concerns, reports, or inquiries related to this policy, please use the following contact mechanisms:

This Child Safety Standards document is reviewed and updated periodically to reflect changes in applicable law, best practices, and platform capabilities. The current version is effective as of the “Last Updated” date shown at the top of this page.