GUWAHATI: The Centre has issued a notice to Meta over the alleged presence of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, seeking a detailed explanation from the technology company within seven days, according to reports on Sunday, July 5.
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According to reports, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued the notice on Saturday, directing Instagram to immediately disable all advertisements and content that promote or facilitate access to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM).
The government has warned that failure to furnish the requested information could invite legal action under the Information Technology Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
The notice also seeks immediate corrective action to address the alleged "algorithmic amplification" of CSEAM on the platform.
The action follows a BBC investigation, which alleged that Meta's recommendation algorithm had been promoting videos containing child sexual abuse material, raising concerns over gaps in the company's content moderation safeguards.
The report further alleged that paid advertisements containing terms such as "rape video" and "child video" appeared on Instagram and directed users to Telegram channels where such illegal content was reportedly being sold. The investigation also claimed similar advertisements had appeared on Facebook despite Meta's advertising policies prohibiting nudity and sexually explicit content.
The government has reportedly asked Meta to explain how such advertisements were approved, the corrective measures taken since the allegations surfaced, and the safeguards it intends to implement to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has also been asked to provide details of its content moderation mechanisms, advertisement review processes and the measures adopted to detect, remove and prevent content related to child sexual abuse across its platforms.
The ministry is also expected to seek information on additional steps being taken by the company to strengthen enforcement against illegal and harmful online content.
Under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, publishing or transmitting electronic content depicting children in sexually explicit acts is a punishable offence, with stringent penalties prescribed for such violations.