Centre cracks down on Meta over child sexual abuse ads on Instagram; seeks reply in 7 days

The Centre has issued a notice to Meta over the alleged presence of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, news agency ANI reported on Sunday. 

The government directed the company to immediately remove such content and explain the alleged lapses within seven days.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has reportedly instructed Instagram to disable all advertisements and content that promote or facilitate access to CSEAM on its platform.

The ministry has also sought a detailed explanation from Meta, asking the company to respond within a week.

The move is part of the government's broader crackdown on the circulation and promotion of child sexual abuse material online, with authorities seeking stricter compliance from digital platforms.

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BBC Investigation Triggered Government Scrutiny

The government's action follows a BBC Eye investigation that alleged Instagram displayed paid advertisements containing terms such as "rape video" and "child video", redirecting users to Telegram channels where child sexual abuse material could allegedly be purchased for as little as Rs 99.

According to the investigation, the advertisements had cleared Instagram's moderation process before appearing on the platform.

To examine Instagram's recommendation system, the BBC said it created a test account in India after observing that the platform recommended sexually suggestive content even without users actively searching for it.

The account followed 10 profiles posting sexually suggestive material. Within a week, it began receiving advertisements offering video calls and explicit sexual content. Days later, it was shown advertisements depicting children with adults in sexually suggestive situations, along with links to Telegram channels.

The investigation identified around 30 unique advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material, some of which appeared through multiple advertiser accounts. It also found about 20 advertisements featuring adult pornography.

Meta Says It Removed Accounts

Following queries from the BBC, Meta said it had disabled several advertisements and suspended the accounts responsible.

The company said it later removed additional advertisements, disabled more accounts, and blocked URLs linked to content violating its policies.

Meta acknowledged that "no system is perfect" and said its review process may not detect every policy violation before advertisements appear on the platform.

The company said it continues to use proactive detection technology after advertisements go live and allows users to report content that violates its policies.

Meta also said that whenever it becomes aware of apparent child exploitation, it reports the material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the global reporting system for online child sexual exploitation, in accordance with applicable laws.