Meta’s woes deepen in India as child abuse ads on Instagram draw government ire
The Indian government has warned against two measures Meta three major platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, within a week, underscoring the growing regulatory risk the US social media giant is facing in an important market.
On Saturday, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a “strong notice to Meta for the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative & Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid ads on Instagram,” according to a report by Indian state broadcaster DD News.
The government ordered Instagram to “immediately disable all ads and content promoting” child abuse and demand a detailed explanation from Meta within seven days, the report said.
The warning directed at Meta came after an investigation by the BBC on Friday that Instagram had paid ads promoting child sexual abuse in India.
Meta has a “zero tolerance policy” for content related to child abuse, a Meta spokesperson told CNBC in an email. The company uses “AI technology to proactively detect infringing content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection,” it added.
Earlier this year, the European Commission found the social media giant to be in breach of EU law by failing to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing social media. Although Meta disagreed with the initial findings, it could face a fine of up to 6% of its annual global profits if the findings are upheld.
The US company faces no immediate risk of fines in India, but it has come under intense scrutiny in its biggest market. The country has the largest audience base for Instagram, with more than 480 million users, more than double the number of the US by 2025, according to data from Statista. It also has more than 400 million Facebook users, many worldwide.
Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, said this is “a wake-up call for Meta to strengthen compliance and control of its platforms” as the Indian government is determined to “tighten the noose on these major digital platforms.”
Last week, Meta’s messaging app, WhatsApp, which has more than half a million users in India, was also issued a warning about its user interface being rolled out. The government said the feature could increase the incidence of cybercrime and ordered the platform to suspend its programs.
Meta defended the introduction of usernames, calling it a “great privacy feature” designed to help people stay connected without giving out phone numbers.
“I would describe India as a regulatory market that is more demanding than hostile,” Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC. Recognizing India’s importance as an important digital market, he added that companies should expect regulators to be more involved in “issues ranging from cyber security to data management.”
