Centre summons Meta over Instagram child abuse ads after minister’s directive: Report

MUMBAI: The Centre has intensified its scrutiny of Meta after Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to summon the company over advertisements on Instagram that allegedly promoted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to a PTI report, the ministry will seek an explanation from Meta on how such advertisements appeared on Instagram and what safeguards were in place to prevent them. Officials are expected to ask the company to clarify the circumstances that allowed the content to be displayed and outline the measures it is taking to prevent similar incidents.

The latest move marks the second government action involving Meta this week. Earlier, MeitY issued a notice to WhatsApp over its proposed username feature, directing the company to pause the rollout until consultations with the government are completed.

The government has argued that allowing users to communicate through usernames instead of phone numbers could increase the risk of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks. It also asked Meta to explain why regulatory action should not be initiated under the Information Technology Act and the associated intermediary rules.

In its notice to WhatsApp, the Centre reminded Meta that the messaging platform, as a significant social media intermediary, is required to comply with due diligence obligations under India’s IT laws.

The summons over Instagram suggests the government’s focus has broadened beyond product features to include platform safety and content moderation. With two separate actions against Meta in the same week, regulators appear to be stepping up oversight of the company’s services across multiple fronts.