The Central government has directed Meta to immediately remove Instagram advertisements and content allegedly promoting or facilitating access to child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM). The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also issued a seven-day notice, seeking a detailed explanation from the company.
The action follows a BBC Eye investigation that identified multiple Instagram advertisements in India allegedly redirecting users to external platforms hosting illegal child abuse content. The report claimed some ads contained explicit phrases and linked users to Telegram channels.
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The government said it views the alleged algorithmic promotion of such content with the utmost seriousness and has instructed Meta to take immediate corrective action.
In response, Meta said it has a zero-tolerance policy towards child sexual abuse material. The company stated that it has removed violating advertisements, disabled offending accounts, blocked harmful links and continues to use advanced AI and expert teams to detect and prevent such content from appearing on its platforms.
