New Delhi: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed MeitY officials to summon Meta over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material, marking the second instance of regulatory scrutiny initiated against the social media company this week.
The ministry will demand an explanation and information on action taken in its notice to Meta over child sexual abuse material advertisement allegations, government sources said.
The Menlo Park, California-headquartered technology giant Meta owns popular social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The latest action from the ministry comes amid a BBC report that alleged Meta’s recommendation algorithm had been promoting videos containing child sexual abuse material (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.
Sources said Vaishnaw has given direction to officials in the IT Ministry to summon Meta on the issue of Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material.
A person familiar with the matter said the notice to Meta is expected to be issued shortly, seeking the company’s response to BBC allegations that advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) were allowed to run on its platforms.
According to the person, the government is expected to seek answers on 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 said.
“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.
