Meta India Head Summoned For 3rd Time Over Child Abuse Advertisements

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned the Managing Director and Head of Meta India again, asking the top leader to appear before it tomorrow, in an ongoing inquiry into alleged advertisements related to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM).

The case stems from a BBC Eye media report that said Instagram had been running advertisements promoting what appeared to be child sexual abuse material in India. On July 3, the NCPCR took note of the case on its own and asked the tech giant to explain itself. Meta submitted its response a week later.

The NCPCR has since decided to institute a formal inquiry to determine the facts and circumstances of the case. Meta's India head has been summoned in continuation with the ongoing inquiry. The hearing is scheduled for September 16.

This comes a week after the senior official was summoned on September 9.

The commission's move comes amid concerns over the alleged availability and promotion of child sexual exploitation material through online platforms.

NCPCR's persistent follow-up on the CSEAM matter has prompted Meta to revise its policy on reporting child sexual abuse cases. Meta has now begun reporting such cases to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) as well.

In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had issued a strict notice to the company on CSEAM in paid advertisements on Instagram. It had also asked Instagram to disable all such advertisements.

The BBC Eye investigation alleged that paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material were running on Instagram in India. The advertisements, the report said, used terms including "rape video" and "child video" to direct users to to chat app Telegram. There, users could buy such videos for as low as Rs 99.

The BBC investigation had also allegedly found ads of this kind appearing on Facebook, despite Meta's advertising policies explicitly prohibiting nudity and sexually explicit content.

Capegemini Boss Summoned Too

In another matter concerning alleged child abuse at a day care centre operated by Capgemini in Bengaluru, the NCPCR has summoned the Vice President of Capgemini for tomorrow, September 16, at 4 PM. The Commission will examine the matter to determine culpability.

The case dates back to July this year, when two caregivers at Capegimini's technology park in Bengaluru's Brookefield were arrested over allegations of abusing toddlers.

Horrifying videos of the abuse were shared online, where the accused were seen locking the children in bathrooms and keeping them inside washing machines.