The central government on Saturday (4th July) came down heavily on the social media giant Meta over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice on Saturday evening to Meta, ordering it to take down the Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse content. The notice also seeks a detailed explanation from the company within seven days.
The action comes amid intensified scrutiny by the Ministry of the content on social media to ensure child safety. Earlier, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, directed MeitY officials to summon Meta representatives and seek a detailed explanation on paid advertisements appearing on Instagram that promote child sexual abuse material in India.
“MeitY has ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to CSEAM,” MeitY reportedly stated.
A BBC Eye investigation had revealed that Instagram has been running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India.
