The Centre will summon Meta to seek an explanation over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India, a government official said on Friday.

The move comes after Electronics and Information Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed officials in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to look into the matter.

A government official told Hindustan Times, “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.”

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BBC investigation raises concerns

The government’s action comes amid increased scrutiny of Meta’s content moderation systems. Per HT, a BBC Eye investigation, published on Friday, reported finding around 30 unique Instagram advertisements that allegedly promoted child sexual abuse material. The report said these advertisements were flagged to both the platform and Indian authorities.

According to the BBC, some advertisements contained phrases such as “rape video” and “child video” and allegedly redirected users to Telegram channels selling child sexual abuse material.

The report further claimed that after one such advertisement was reported, Instagram initially responded that it did not violate the platform’s community standards.

Post Centre’s summon, Meta issues statement

Following the findings, Meta removed several advertisements, disabled multiple accounts and blocked URLs that were found to violate its policies.

In its response, the company was quoted as saying by HT, “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.

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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.”

Child rights panel takes cognisance

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also took note of the report on Friday and said it would closely monitor the case as authorities examine the allegations and seek Meta’s response.

FAQs:

Why is the Centre summoning Meta?

The government is seeking an explanation over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material.

What action has Meta taken?

Meta said it removed violating advertisements, disabled accounts and blocked URLs after the issue was flagged.