Meta Told To Remove Instagram Ads Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Content: Sources

The government issued notice to Meta over content linked to child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, sources said. Meta also owns Facebook.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Saturday ordered Instagram to remove all content that facilitated access to CSEAM and sought a detailed response within seven days.

Failure to provide information could result in legal action under the Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The government demanded immediate corrective action against the "algorithmic amplification" of CSEAM.

The notice comes amid a BBC report that alleged Meta's recommendation algorithm had been promoting videos containing CSAM, exposing serious gaps in the safeguards. The BBC investigation had also allegedly found advertisements of this nature appearing on Facebook and Instagram, despite Meta's advertising policies explicitly prohibiting nudity and sexually explicit content.

Instagram is alleged to have shown paid advertisements with terms such as 'rape video' and 'child video', which directed users to Telegram channels where such content was reportedly on sale.

The government has asked how such advertisements were even approved, what corrective measures Meta has taken since the allegations surfaced, and what safeguards it plans to put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Even as an intermediary, Meta can't hide behind the third-party content argument or defence if allegations involve paid ads promoting child sexual abuse material, sources told news agency PTI.

"If the allegations are found to be true, they will be held accountable for the advertisements, for which the platform receives revenue," the source said.

To queries on the BBC report, a Meta spokesperson in an email response to PTI said 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 defences, 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 Meta spokesperson said.

The IT Act prescribes stringent punishment for publishing or transmitting electronic content depicting children in sexually explicit acts. Section 67B of the IT Act specifically deals with online child sexual abuse material.

With inputs from PTI