BBC Investigation Alleges Instagram Promotes Child Sexual Abuse Ads in India; MeitY Summons Meta

A DISTURBING NEW INCIDENT has been unveiled involving one of the world’s top tech companies — Meta Platforms. An investigation conducted by BBC revealed that the company’s social media platform Instagram is promoting and showcasing child sexual abuse related content and ads in India. 

The Instagram ads include terms like ‘rape video’ and ‘child video,’ and when clicked upon directs to a Telegram channel where material can be bought for as a little as 100 rupees. What's worth noting, is that Instagram has rigid ad evaluation protocols in place, meaning before ads go live, an automated system checks ad copy, images, video, target audience, and landing page and measures them against Meta's Advertising Standards. 

If an ad is found to violate Meta's Advertising Standards, it is rejected and removed from circulation.

After BBC flagged one such child abuse ad and reported it to the platform, Instagram replied that it does not violate the platform’s community guidelines. Later, when the news portal asked Instagram, why an ad promoting child sexual abuse was not found to be violating community guidelines, the platform responded by disabling several adverts, in addition to suspending the accounts that posted them. The tech company also stated that they had removed additional ads, disabled more accounts, and blocked URLs for other content that violated its policies in response to the BBC's claims. It also stressed that it has a “zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM (child sex abuse material), including in ads.”

See also: YouTube and Telegram respond to the IT Ministry’s notice on child sexual abuse material

What the BBC investigation revealed

To probe more into the child sexual abuse ads business, the BBC set up a spam account in India after it noticed that Instagram was pushing sexually explicit ads and content even when a user hasn’t searched for the same. The spam account followed 10 accounts which posted sexually explicit content. Within days, the spam account was getting adverts showing women offering video calls and naked couples engaging in intercourse. Days later, the adverts showed a new type of sexual content — children and adults engaging in sexually suggestive situations with attached links of Telegram channels.  

In India, distribution of adult pornography and child sexual content is identified as a legal offense. In addition, Meta’s policy prohibits the display of ads containing adult nudity, genitals, or any other content that involves children in any sexual manner.

A 12-year-old boy and girl apparently engaging in sexual activity. A 52-year-old man with his arms around a girl of 12. A girl in tears suggesting that she has been sexually abused. These are some of the ads that BBC found and reported to Meta authorities. However, the platform, refusing to take down the adverts, gave the explanation that the ads in question “do not go against community standards.” Many ads featured a “watch more” button, which would direct  to a Telegram channel where the full content could be watched or purchased.

Meta platforms has denied these claims, stating that it was "categorially inaccurate" to suggest that the platform knowingly and deliberately targeted ads featuring children to users with an inappropriate interest in such material.

See also: How the Team at Horowitz Law Navigates Complex Sexual Abuse Claims in Florida

MeitY to summon Meta officials

Taking cognizance of the BBC report, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has directed ministry officials to summon Meta over Instagram promoting child sexual abuse ads. The ministry is slated to release a formal notice shortly, asking for clarification from the platform. Additionally, Meta would also be required to disclose the regulatory and corrective measures they've taken regarding the allegations of child sexual abuse material advertisements across its platforms.

Child sexual abuse content: Legal Framework in India

Dissemination of sexually explicit content in India is a serious offense, governed under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. Under section 67B of the IT Act, publishing, transmitting, creating, downloading, storing or distributing electronic material depicting children in sexually explicit acts is recognized as a criminal offense. Such activity is liable to be penalized with a fine of Rs 5 lakhs and/or imprisonment up to 5 years in first conviction. In the second conviction, the scale of the punishment is increased with imprisonment up to 5 years and a fine of up to ₹10 lakh.

(Edited by Vaishnavi Sivadasan)

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