Govt orders Meta to remove child abuse ads on Instagram, seeks reply in 7 days

The government has issued a stern notice to Meta over the alleged presence of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, news agency ANI reported citing sources.

According to the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has directed Instagram to immediately disable all advertisements and content that promote or facilitate access to CSEAM on its platform. The government has also sought a detailed explanation from Meta, asking the company to respond within seven days.

The action comes as part of the Centre's crackdown on the circulation and promotion of child sexual abuse material online, with authorities seeking stricter compliance from digital platforms.

BBC INVESTIGATION TRIGGERED SCRUTINY

The government's action follows a BBC Eye investigation that found Instagram displaying paid advertisements containing terms such as "rape video" and "child video", which allegedly redirected users to Telegram channels where child sexual abuse material could be purchased for as little as Rs 99.

According to the investigation, the advertisements had passed Instagram's moderation process before appearing on the platform.

TEST ACCOUNT RECEIVED ILLEGAL ADVERTISEMENTS

The BBC said it created an alias Instagram account in India after observing that the platform recommended sexually suggestive content even without users actively searching for it.

The account followed 10 profiles posting sexually suggestive content to study Instagram's recommendation system. Within a week, it began receiving advertisements offering video calls and explicit sexual content. Days later, the account was shown advertisements depicting children with adults in sexually suggestive situations, along with links to Telegram channels.

The investigation found around 30 unique advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material, some appearing through multiple advertiser accounts, in addition to about 20 advertisements featuring adult pornography.

DISTURBING CONTENT IDENTIFIED

According to the BBC, one advertisement showed a boy and a girl, appearing to be around 12 years old, engaged in a sexual act. Another featured a man claiming to be 52 years old alongside a girl described as 12, urging users to click through to Telegram. The investigation also reported an advertisement showing a young girl in tears with text suggesting she had been sexually assaulted.

The BBC said Instagram initially responded that one such advertisement did not violate its community standards, despite the reported content.

META REMOVES ACCOUNTS AFTER QUERIES

Following questions from the BBC, Meta said it had already disabled several advertisements and suspended the accounts responsible. The company said it subsequently removed additional advertisements, disabled more accounts and blocked URLs linked to content violating its policies.

Meta acknowledged that "no system is perfect" and said its review process may fail to detect every policy violation. The company added that it continues to use proactive detection technology even after advertisements go live and allows users to report content that violates its policies.

Meta also said that whenever it becomes aware of apparent child exploitation, it reports the material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the global reporting system for online child sexual exploitation, in accordance with applicable laws.

GOVERNMENT AWAITS META'S RESPONSE

Sources said MeitY has directed Instagram to remove all advertisements and content facilitating access to CSEAM and has asked Meta to explain the lapses within seven days.