India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to summon Meta after a BBC World Service investigation found paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) running on Instagram in India.
The BBC investigation identified roughly 30 distinct adverts using explicit terms such as “rape video” and “child video,” which directed users to Telegram channels where abuse material was offered for as little as 99 rupees. The report said many of those ads cleared Instagram’s automated moderation and went live before being flagged.
When the BBC flagged one ad to Instagram, the platform initially failed to act promptly, according to subsequent reporting cited by Indian outlets. Meta told the BBC it has a “zero tolerance” policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM, and said it disabled multiple ads and accounts and blocked violating URLs after being alerted.
The summons comes amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of large platforms in India. MeitY recently sent a separate notice to WhatsApp over a planned username feature, and New Delhi has tightened content-removal timelines and proposed rules that could make government advisories legally binding measures that increase compliance risk for companies like Meta. Indian states and policymakers have also moved toward stronger child-safety measures, including proposals to restrict social media access for under-16s.
Government officials have the authority under India’s IT Rules to require explanations and compel action from intermediaries; failure to comply can affect platforms’ safe-harbour protections under Section 79 of the IT Act. The current development signals further escalation in conversations between New Delhi and global tech companies over content moderation and child safety.
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