The Centre issued a notice to Meta on child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, and directed the latter to disable all advertisements and content promoting, and facilitating access to CSEAM, said people familiar with the matter.
The government sought a detailed explanation on the advertisements from the US-based social media firm Meta, which also owns Instagram. The paid advertisements on Instagram allegedly directed users to external platforms for unlawful child abuse material.
The notice was issued on Saturday, according to the people. The government views “algorithmic amplification” of sexually exploitative content with utmost seriousness, and has demanded immediate corrective measures, the people said.
On Friday, electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed officials to issue a summons to Meta over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting CSAM in India.
A BBC investigation alleged that Instagram had been running paid advertisements promoting CSAM in the country. The advertisements use phrases such as “rape video” and “child video,” and link users to channels on Telegram, where they can buy the material for as little as Rs 99, according to the report.
When asked about the allegations, a Meta spokesperson had told ET on Friday, “Meta has a zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM, including in advertisements. We use advanced artificial intelligence (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.”
The spokesperson had said work was in progress to improve its defences, develop new technology, block links to violating websites and share intelligence with other companies. The company was not available for an immediate comment on Sunday.
The development comes in the wake of several policy actions taken by the electronics and IT ministry in the past week.
Separately, the information and broadcasting ministry issued a notice to Telegram, directing the messaging platform to strengthen its systems to detect, remove and prevent the circulation of pirated films, over-the-top content and other copyrighted audio-visual material. It has been given 15 days to submit an ‘action taken report’ detailing the measures it has implemented to prevent, detect and remove infringing content from its platform.
The electronics and IT ministry has also issued a notice to Meta over its roll-out of usernames, asking it to pause the launch till consultation on the matter is over. The government is concerned that the facility might lead to an increase in impersonation and cybercrime. Meta executives met government officials on Friday to explain the move and were told to respond to the notice within the timeline.
