India Orders Meta to Remove Instagram Ads Promoting Child Abuse Material

By Blessing Nweke

The Indian government has directed Meta to immediately remove advertisements and content on Instagram that promote or facilitate child sexual abuse material, while demanding an explanation within seven days over how such paid advertisements appeared on the platform.

According to a senior official in India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the government issued a strong notice instructing Instagram to disable all content and advertisements linked to child sexual exploitation. The official described the matter as serious and said authorities expect a detailed response from Meta within a week.

The action follows an investigation that found Instagram displaying paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India. During the investigation, a newly created Instagram account was shown sexually suggestive content despite not searching for it. After following several such accounts, the profile later received paid advertisements featuring adult pornography and, days later, advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material.

Some of the advertisements reportedly directed users to Telegram channels where the illegal material was allegedly offered for sale.

Meta said it maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward child sexual abuse material and any attempt to solicit or distribute such content, including through advertisements.

A company spokesperson said Meta uses advanced artificial intelligence to proactively detect harmful content and accounts but acknowledged that criminals continually attempt to evade its detection systems across its global user base of more than 3.5 billion people.

Following the investigation, Meta reiterated that child exploitation is a horrific crime and said it continues to strengthen its detection and enforcement measures. However, the company rejected claims that it knowingly targeted users with advertisements containing such material or placed revenue ahead of user safety, describing those allegations as categorically inaccurate.