New Delhi: The Centre has taken a serious view of allegations that Instagram carried advertisements linked to child sexual abuse material, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology expected to seek an explanation from Meta, the platform’s parent company.
According to sources, the Union IT Minister has directed MeitY officials to summon Meta and ask how such advertisements were allowed to appear on Instagram. The ministry is also likely to seek details on the steps being taken by the company to prevent similar incidents in future.
The issue came to light after an investigative report by the BBC claimed that paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material were visible on Instagram in India. The report said some ads used disturbing keywords and redirected users to Telegram channels, where such illegal material was allegedly being sold at low prices.
According to the report, advertisements on Instagram go live only after passing through Meta’s moderation system. The BBC claimed that when it reported one such advertisement to Instagram, the company responded after nearly 24 hours saying the post did not violate its community guidelines.
After the BBC sought a response from Meta, the company said it had removed several advertisements, suspended related accounts and blocked URLs that violated its policies. Meta also acknowledged that no moderation system is perfect and that its review process may not detect every violation.
The BBC investigation also claimed that a new Instagram account created for reporting purposes initially received regular content. Within a few days, however, the account allegedly began seeing ads promoting adult content, followed by ads directing users to Telegram channels carrying abusive material. The report said around 30 such ads linked to alleged child sexual abuse content and nearly 20 ads related to adult explicit content were identified during the investigation. These details were also shared with Indian authorities.
Meta has said that whenever it detects child sexual abuse material, it removes the content and reports it to the US based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The company said additional ads were removed, more accounts were disabled and links were blocked after the BBC findings.
Telegram told the BBC that it uses automated systems as well as human moderators to remove child sexual abuse material. It claimed to have removed more than 2.74 lakh groups and channels linked to such content in 2026.
The Indian government is now expected to question Meta on how such ads cleared its review mechanism and appeared before users. A detailed response from the company may determine the next course of action.