Centre orders Meta to disable Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse content

📌 Summary:

• MeitY has issued a notice to Meta ordering Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting or facilitating access to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM), and demanded a detailed explanation within 7 days

• Trigger: a BBC Eye investigation found Instagram running paid advertisements "promoting" child sexual abuse material in India; the ads used phrases like "rape video" and "child video" and directed users to Telegram channels selling the material for as little as Rs 99

• Accountability gap: Instagram ads reach users only after its moderation technology approves them; when BBC flagged one ad, the platform took over 24 hours to respond and initially said it did not violate "community guidelines"

• Meta's response: claims a "zero tolerance policy" for CSAM including in ads, uses AI to proactively detect violations, and shares intelligence with other companies; says it took down several ads and suspended related accounts after the BBC's approach

• The government also summoned Meta representatives following the probe

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2/GS3 — regulation of social media intermediaries, IT Act and intermediary due diligence, child protection online (POCSO); platform accountability and content moderation failures

📝 Prelims Facts:

• MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) issued the takedown notice with a 7-day response deadline
• CSEAM = Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material
• The probe was by BBC Eye / BBC World Service; ads directed users to Telegram, priced as low as Rs 99

🔑 Key Term: CSEAM (Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material) — content depicting or facilitating child sexual abuse; its creation, distribution and access are criminal offences under the POCSO Act and IT Act in India