Overview
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a stern notice on Saturday ordering Instagram to disable paid ads that promote or facilitate child sexual exploitative and abuse material and demanding a detailed explanation within seven days.
- The action follows a BBC Eye investigation that found paid adverts using explicit search terms and links that funneled users to Telegram channels where illegal material was allegedly offered for sale, and reported at least one flagged ad was not initially removed.
- MeitY has asked Meta to explain how those ads passed review, to list what steps it has already taken, and to describe safeguards it will implement to stop algorithmic amplification of such content.
- Meta said it has a zero‑tolerance policy, uses AI and specialist teams to detect abuse and is preparing its response to regulators, while a former Facebook executive told the BBC that automated ad review and revenue incentives have weakened oversight.
- The move increases regulatory pressure on Meta in India, a market with hundreds of millions of users, and could prompt enforcement under the Information Technology Act and the POCSO Act or wider changes to ad‑review and algorithm oversight.