The ministry of electronics and information technology will summon Meta to seek an explanation over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material in India, a government official said on Friday.
The move follows directions from electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
“IT minister has directed MeitY officials to summon Meta on the matter of Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India. MeitY will seek an explanation from Meta on the issue,” the official said.
Inside the investigation
The government’s action comes amid growing scrutiny of Meta’s content moderation systems. A BBC Eye investigation published Friday reported observing around 30 unique advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material, which it reported to the platform and Indian authorities.
HT could not independently establish whether the ministry’s decision to summon Meta was directly linked to the BBC investigation.
According to the BBC, Instagram displayed advertisements containing phrases such as “rape video” and “child video” that directed users to Telegram channels allegedly selling child sexual abuse material. The report added that after it flagged one such advertisement, Instagram initially responded that the advertisement did not violate its community standards.
Meta's response
Following the findings, Meta removed several advertisements, disabled multiple accounts, and blocked URLs found to be in violation of its policies.
{{/usCountry}}Following the findings, Meta removed several advertisements, disabled multiple accounts, and blocked URLs found to be in violation of its policies.
{{/usCountry}}Meta said in a statement: “Meta has a zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM, including in ads. We use advanced AI technology to proactively detect violating content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection. That is why our expert teams are constantly working to improve our defenses, develop new technology to root out predators, block links to violating websites, and share intelligence with other companies so they can take action too.”
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights stated on Friday that it has taken cognisance of the report and will monitor the case closely.