India Summons Meta Over 30 Instagram CSAM Ads After BBC Probe

3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jul 3

Indian authorities summoned Meta within hours of a BBC investigation that found Instagram had run about 30 unique paid ads in India promoting child sexual abuse material and directing users to Telegram.
BBC reporters said the ads used terms such as "rape video" and sold material for as little as 99 rupees, while one reported ad was initially left up after Instagram said it did not breach community guidelines.
Meta later said it had disabled several ads, suspended accounts, removed more violating content and blocked related URLs, while insisting it does not knowingly target such material and noting it disabled more than 4 million suspicious accounts in 2025.
The findings raise questions about Meta's ad-review system, which the company says screens every ad before publication and is increasingly reliant on AI even as advertising generates nearly 98% of its $200 billion annual revenue.
The case also highlights a wider enforcement gap in India, where CSAM sellers used Instagram-to-Telegram links and where 1.9 million NCMEC reports were referred in 2025, second only to the United States.