Meta’s woes deepen in India as child abuse ads on Instagram draw government ire
Indian government warns of action against two men Meta’s The announcement of the three major platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, within a week has underlined the increasing regulatory risks the US social media giant faces in a key market.
On Saturday, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a “Stern warning to Meta According to a report by Indian state broadcaster DD News, accusations have been leveled over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitation and Exploitation Materials (CSEAM) in paid ads on Instagram.
The government ordered Instagram to immediately disable all ads and content that promotes child abuse and requested a detailed explanation from Meta within seven days, the report said.
The regulatory warning against Meta comes after an investigation by the BBC on Friday revealed that Instagram was running paid ads. promoting child sexual abuse material in India.
Meta has a “Zero tolerance policy” for content related to child abuse, a spokesperson for Meta told CNBC in an email. The company “uses AI technology to proactively detect violating content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals hiding among our 3.5 billion users and trying to evade detection,” he added.
Earlier this year, the European Commission found that the social media giant had violated EU law by not blocking children under 13 from accessing its platforms. Although Meta disagrees with the preliminary findings, it could face fines of up to 6% of its total annual worldwide turnover if the findings are confirmed.
The US company does not face immediate risk of fines in India but has faced strict regulatory scrutiny in its largest market. The country has the largest audience on Instagram. more than 480 million According to data from Statista, there will be more than twice as many users as the United States by 2025. There are also multiple 400 million Facebook usersthe most global.
Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, said this is “a wake-up call for Meta to tighten its compliance and control of its platforms” because the Indian government is keen to “tighten the leash on these massive digital platforms.”
Last week, Meta’s messaging app WhatsApp, which has over half a million users in India, was also issued a warning regarding the rollout of the username feature. The government claimed that this feature could increase cybercrime incidents, prompting the platform to pause its plans.
Meta defended the use of usernames, calling it “great privacy feature It was designed to help people stay connected without giving out their phone number.
“I would describe India as a more challenging regulatory market rather than a hostile market,” Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC. He added that given India’s importance as a major digital market, companies should expect regulators to become more actively involved “on issues ranging from online security to data management.”
