Government issues notice to Meta over Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse content: Report

Indian government has issued a stern notice to Meta on the prescence of paid ads on Instagram that had allegedly promoted Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), as per a PTI report.

The report while citing sources notes that Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had issued the notice to social media behemoth on Saturday while also demanding a detailed explanation within 7 days.

"MeitY has ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to CSEAM," the report quotes a source as saying

An earlier PTI report had also noted that Meta officially were also recently summoned by MeitY due to the CSEAM controversy with the ministry seeking an explanation from the US tech giant.

Notably, this was the second time this week when Meta officials were summoned by MeitY. An earlier ANI report had noted that MeitY officials had Meta represetatives earlier in order to discuss the Centre's notice over WhatsApp's proposed usernames feature.

The company was reportedly given three days to furnish a detailed explanation on the matter.

Government had reportedly earlier warned Meta that WhatsApp as a social media intermediary is bound by the due dilligence obligations of the IT Act and rules.

What is the controversy about?

Notably, the government's notice comes days after a BBC report alleged that Instagram was displaying paid advertisements promoting Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in India.

According to the report, the advertisements used terms such as "rape video" and "child video" and directed users to Telegram channels where the illegal material was allegedly being sold for as little as ₹99.

The report also noted that after creating an alias Instagram account as part of the investagiation and following a few accounts posting sexually suggestive content, Instagram began recommending ads featuring adult pornography and later ads depicting children in sexually suggestive situations.

BBC report noted that it was able to identify 30 ads promoting child sexual abuse material, some of which were reposted by multiple accounts, along with nearly 20 ads featuring adult pornography.

In one instance, the BBC said it reported an ad showing a young girl in distress with text suggesting she had been sexually assaulted. According to the publication, Instagram responded 24 hours later saying the ad did not violate its community guidelines.

As per PTI citing unnamed source, goernment is likely to seek answers on how such ads were even approved and what corrective measures Meta has taken since the allegations first surfaced along with the safeguards it plans to put in place in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.

"If the allegations are found to be true, they will be held accountable for the advertisements, for which the platform receives revenue," the source reportedly said

Reportedly, Indian authorities have warned tech companies that failure to crack down on CSAM and other harmful content could lead to regulatory scrutiny and legal action.