India summons Meta over Instagram ads promoting child sexual abuse material
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology will summon Meta executives after a BBC investigation found that Instagram had been running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material to users in the country.
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed ministry officials to seek a formal explanation from the company, according to Business Standard, which cited government sources.
An IT ministry official told the outlet that Meta’s executives had been asked to appear in person.
“We have taken note of the reports that have alleged that there was inaction from Meta, despite being made aware of ads that contained CSAM, offensive and illegal search words,” the official said.
It is the ministry’s second intervention against the company this week, following an earlier order telling WhatsApp to pause its planned usernames feature pending consultation.
The BBC investigation, reported by journalist Divya Arya and published on July 3, set up a...
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