The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Friday directed officials to summon representatives from Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta after an investigation found that Instagram was running advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India.
Sources said IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has asked officials to seek an explanation from Meta over the issue. Meta is the parent company of Instagram.
According to the BBC investigation, Instagram was found to be displaying paid ads that allegedly promoted CSAM-related material in India. The ads, which the BBC said it had seen, reportedly linked users to channels on the messaging app Telegram and claimed users could buy the alleged child sexual abuse material for as little as Rs 99.
The report said the ads used terms including “rape video" and “child video" and directed users to Telegram, where the transactions were allegedly carried out.
This is the second instance this week when the government has turned up the heat on Meta.
On Wednesday, the Centre issued a notice to Meta questioning the planned username feature on WhatsApp, citing concerns that it could materially increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks.
It directed the platform to pause the feature until consultations on the issue are completed “to the satisfaction of the Government".
The Centre had also asked Meta to explain why action shouldn’t be initiated under the IT Act and rules over WhatsApp’s new feature that may increase cybercrimes.
The government also reminded Meta that WhatsApp, as a significant social media intermediary, is bound by due diligence obligations under the IT Act and rules
Source: ANI