The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has escalated its action against Meta, moving from a ministerial directive to summon the company to a formal written notice within 24 hours, over allegations that paid advertisements on Instagram promoted Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), according to official sources.
On Saturday evening, MeitY, through a formal notice ordered Instagram to immediately disable all advertisements and content facilitating access to CSEAM, and demanded a detailed explanation within seven days. The government’s concerns also extend to Instagram’s recommendation algorithm, which had allegedly been surfacing similar content organically, beyond just paid ads. A day earlier, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had directed officials at MeitY to summon Meta and seek an explanation following the concerns.
Legal Ramifications
Officials warned that non-compliance could invite action under the IT Act and the POCSO Act, 2012. Section 67(B) of the IT Act criminalises publishing or transmitting sexually explicit material involving children. Separately, any individual or agency may file its own complaint against the advertiser or platform. Moreover, the tech company cannot invoke safe harbour protections for paid advertisements, since such ads generate direct revenue for the platform.
Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson said that the company 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,” he said.
The spokesperson added that the teams are constantly working to improve its defenses, develop new technology to root out predators, block links to violating websites, and share intelligence with other companies to ensure that they can take action too.
BBC Investigation
The controversy stems from a BBC investigation which alleged that Instagram’s advertising system had approved paid ads using coded language, directing users to Telegram channels where abusive material was allegedly being sold. Unlike ordinary user-uploaded content, advertisements undergo a review process before publication, making the lapse more serious in the eyes of regulators.
This is Meta’s second regulatory clash with India in a week. MeitY had earlier pushed back on WhatsApp’s proposed ‘usernames’ feature over impersonation and fraud risks.