NEW DELHI: The Indian government has taken a tough stance against Meta over advertisements on Instagram that promote child sexual abuse material (CSAM), stating that strict legal decisions will be taken once a formal response is received from the tech giant.
Speaking at the CII GCC Business Summit, IT Secretary S. Krishnan made it clear that the government will show no leniency on the issue. He stated that a notice was sent to Meta on Saturday, directing the immediate removal of all advertisements and content that promote child sexual exploitation.
The intervention came after IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed ministry officials to demand answers from Meta regarding this serious lapse and to seek details on the concrete steps taken by the company so far.
The government’s crackdown was triggered by a BBC report which revealed that Instagram’s algorithm was actively promoting videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Responding to the government’s notice, Meta issued a detailed blog post defending its position. Terming child exploitation a “horrific crime,” the company stated that it works proactively every day to remove such content from its platforms using a combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human reviewers to monitor advertisements.
According to data shared by the company, Meta has removed approximately 36 million pieces of content related to child exploitation globally over the past year. In the Indian context, the company stated that it has banned 1.60 lakh suspicious accounts sharing exploitation-related links over the last six months using AI tools.
Meta also claimed that its advanced systems, which identify accounts exhibiting suspicious behavior, automatically removed more than 40 million such accounts globally last year.
While Meta acknowledged that its ad review system is not 100% effective in catching every single violation, it emphasized that it is investing heavily to improve its technology. The company added that it is actively collaborating with law enforcement agencies to help apprehend offenders.
