Meta admits mistake over child abuse ads, agrees to report cases to India

Senior Meta India executives appeared before the child rights panel over alleged CSEAM-linked advertisements. The case has intensified pressure on social media platforms to report and remove abusive content faster.

Meta India chief Arun Srinivas and other senior executives appeared before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday for the second time in a week, as the child rights panel intensifies its inquiry into alleged advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on Instagram.

Government sources said Meta officials admitted to a mistake and agreed to report child abuse content directly to Indian law enforcement agencies. The development comes amid growing scrutiny of how the platform’s advertising and recommendation systems handle harmful content involving children.

Srinivas did not respond to repeated media queries about what transpired during Wednesday’s meeting as he left the NCPCR office.

The appearance came a week after senior Meta executives had appeared before the commission on September 9. The NCPCR had subsequently summoned Meta India’s managing director and head again for Wednesday’s hearing as part of its formal inquiry.

META AGREES TO REPORT CASES DIRECTLY IN INDIA

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has agreed to report child safety-related matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), according to government sources.

The move marks a change from the company’s earlier reporting process, under which child safety cases were primarily routed through the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

A Meta spokesperson had said protecting children on its platforms was a priority for the company.

“We're committed to working with the government to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held responsible,” the spokesperson said.

“To collectively strengthen our efforts to combat this harm, Meta will now report child safety matters directly to the cybercrime portal managed by I4C,” the spokesperson added.

Government sources said online safety of children is a “fundamental principle” and “non-negotiable” for social media platforms operating in India.

They said the government would take action against platforms that fail to take proactive measures to protect children online, while continuing to engage with other platforms to ensure that they identify and remove such content.

According to the sources, Meta’s decision to report child sexual abuse material cases directly to Indian law enforcement is a first step, but more needs to be done to strengthen child safety online.

The NCPCR inquiry follows a BBC Eye investigation published in July that alleged Instagram was carrying paid advertisements promoting CSEAM.

The investigation alleged that some of the advertisements directed users to Telegram channels hosting sexually explicit material involving children. It also raised concerns about Meta’s recommendation systems allegedly amplifying videos containing such material.

Following the report, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed Instagram to disable advertisements and content promoting or facilitating access to CSEAM and sought a detailed explanation from Meta.

The NCPCR had issued its first notice to Meta on July 3, seeking an explanation after taking suo motu cognisance of the BBC Eye report. Meta submitted its response a week later, following which the commission decided to institute an inquiry to determine the facts of the matter.

Government sources said the scrutiny is also examining the role of Meta’s systems in determining how content reaches users.

According to the sources, Meta can no longer be viewed only through the lens of a simple intermediary when its algorithms can amplify content and influence what users see.

The government is also seeking greater accountability from online platforms and wants them to proactively identify and remove child sexual abuse material.

Meta had previously said it uses technology to detect violating content and has a zero-tolerance policy towards soliciting or sharing child sexual abuse material, including through advertisements.

The NCPCR inquiry is running alongside scrutiny by other government bodies.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had directed Delhi Police to examine whether Meta complied with mandatory reporting obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. It subsequently issued a follow-up notice seeking action-taken reports from MeitY, Delhi Police and Meta.

The I4C, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, operates the national cybercrime reporting portal, with a focus on crimes against women and children. It has also developed the Sahyog portal to route content takedown requests to social media platforms.

The I4C had earlier asked intermediaries to nominate nodal officers for reporting child sexual abuse material and deploy artificial intelligence tools to detect and remove such content.

Meta’s decision to establish a direct reporting pipeline with the I4C therefore represents a shift in how such cases are routed to Indian law enforcement.

The NCPCR’s Wednesday proceedings also included a separate matter involving alleged child abuse at a day-care centre run by Capgemini in Bengaluru.

The child rights panel summoned a senior Capgemini official in connection with that case, separately from its inquiry into Meta’s handling of alleged CSEAM-related advertisements.

The parallel proceedings come as the NCPCR continues to examine how companies and online platforms are responding to allegations involving child safety.