Meta Faces Indian Government Notice Over CSAM Ads on Instagram

A BBC investigation uncovered Instagram advertisements in India that explicitly promoted child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The ads used terms such as “rape video” and “child video” and directed users to Telegram channels where the content could be purchased for as little as $1. In response, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a notice ordering Meta to disable all such ads and related content, giving the company until July 11 to provide a detailed explanation. Meta reported that it had already disabled several offending adverts and suspended associated accounts for policy violations.

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Meta announced earlier this year that it would rely more heavily on artificial-intelligence systems rather than third-party human moderators to police its platforms. Critics argue that the AI rollout has not curbed the flow of illicit material. In the United States, a New Mexico jury in March found Meta liable for misleading users about child-safety protections, concluding that the company allowed its platforms to become marketplaces for child sex trafficking. The same report notes that India registers 1.9 million CSAM reports on a leading tipline, ranking second only to the United States.

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A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that the company’s review process is imperfect and that “no system is perfect, and our review process may not detect all policy violations.” The spokesperson added that Meta continues to run proactive detection technology on live ads and encourages users to report any that appear to break its rules. The Indian ministry’s notice demanded immediate removal of the ads and a comprehensive explanation by the July 11 deadline.

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Former Facebook vice president Brian Boland testified that Instagram’s algorithms prioritize revenue over user safety, saying the “trade-off of revenue and user experience became a more core part of the conversation.” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez asserted that “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew.” Child-rights advocates warn that substantial portions of CSAM activity remain unaddressed.

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• “no system is perfect, and our review process may not detect all policy violations.” — Meta spokesperson

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• “We continue to run proactive detection technology on ads once they’re live, and anyone can report an ad to us that they think breaks our rules,” — Meta spokesperson

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• “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew,” — Raúl Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General

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• “I think what’s sad and tragic is over time, the trade-off of revenue and user experience became a more core part of the conversation,” — Brian Boland, former Facebook vice president

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