Meta Rejects Claims It Allowed Child Abuse Ads, Details Crackdown After Centre's Notice

After the Centre sought an explanation over Instagram advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual exploitation material (CSEAM), Meta on Tuesday denied claims that it knowingly allowed or targeted such advertisements and detailed the scale of its efforts to combat child exploitation across its platforms.

In a blog post titled "Our Work to Fight Child Exploitation on Our Apps," the company said child exploitation is among the "most horrific crimes" and reiterated that it has a zero-tolerance policy against any content or activity involving child sexual abuse.

Meta said it continues to invest in artificial intelligence, specialised detection tools and partnerships with child safety organisations to identify and remove abusive content before it reaches users.

The statement comes after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta following reports that found Instagram had approved paid advertisements promoting or facilitating access to child sexual abuse material on the social networking site Instagram.

The Centre directed the company to immediately disable such advertisements, remove related content and explain within seven days how its advertising systems had allowed the material to appear.

Rejecting allegations that it deliberately targeted users with such advertisements, Meta said criminals constantly attempt to evade its detection systems and that the company remains engaged in a "constant battle" against them.

It added that it works closely with law enforcement agencies and child protection organisations to identify offenders and remove exploitative networks.

In its latest disclosure, Meta said it had removed more than 4 million accounts linked to child exploitation and taken down over 36 million pieces of content that violated its child safety policies. According to the company, these enforcement actions rely on a combination of machine learning, behavioural signals, image-hashing technology and reports from trusted safety partners.

The company also highlighted measures aimed at protecting teenagers on its platforms. These include restricting contact between adults and minors, strengthening safety settings for teen accounts, detecting suspicious interactions indicative of grooming, and removing networks that attempt to exploit children.

Meta said it has also expanded the use of AI systems to proactively identify abusive content instead of relying solely on user reports.

The Centre's notice followed a report published earlier this month by the BBC, which found that searches using child abuse-related terms on Instagram surfaced sponsored advertisements directing users to Telegram channels allegedly advertising or distributing child sexual abuse material.

The said investigation raised questions over Meta's advertising review process, as the advertisements had reportedly passed through the platform's approval systems despite the company's stated policies prohibiting such content.

Following the report, the government instructed Meta to immediately remove all advertisements and content promoting or facilitating CSEAM across its platforms and sought a detailed explanation regarding the apparent failure of its moderation and advertising systems.

Reports said that officials also expressed concern over the possible algorithmic amplification of such material and warned that social media intermediaries are expected to proactively curb illegal content.

Meta's latest statement, however, sought to emphasise the breadth of its existing child safety infrastructure rather than announcing fresh policy changes.

The company said it shares reports with the United States' National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), cooperates with law enforcement globally, and continues to improve its automated detection capabilities to prevent child exploitation on its platforms.

Meta stressed that in 2019, it played an integral role in establishing India’s relationship with NCMEC by enabling local law enforcement authorities to receive reports and take action on violating activity.

"In India, in compliance with the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2021 and accompanying Rules, Meta ensures that such content is reported by NCMEC to the national cyber-crime reporting portal on behalf of Meta," the company stressed.