NCPCR summons Meta India MD for third time over child safety ads

MUMBAI: Meta’s child-safety inquiry is back in the hearing room, with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) summoning the company’s India Managing Director and Head for the third time over alleged advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM).

The latest hearing is scheduled for September 16, as the child-rights body continues its formal inquiry into how such advertisements appeared and were distributed on Meta’s platforms.

The summons comes a week after Meta India executives appeared before the NCPCR on September 9. The Commission had first issued a notice to Meta on July 3, seeking an explanation over the allegations. Meta submitted its response a week later, following which the NCPCR decided to institute a formal inquiry to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the matter.

The scrutiny is also widening around Meta’s role in the advertising chain. Government sources have said Meta acknowledged lapses relating to child sexual abuse advertisements and assured authorities that its algorithms would not surface such advertisements.

The government has also questioned whether Meta can be viewed simply as an intermediary when it accepts payment for advertising and operates systems involved in reviewing, distributing and monetising advertisements. According to the sources, the government asked Meta whether it charged for such advertisements, and the company confirmed that it did.

That distinction is now central to the wider regulatory discussion: whether a platform merely hosting third-party material should be treated in the same way as a service that actively facilitates paid distribution.

Meta, meanwhile, has said it will begin reporting child-safety matters directly to the cybercrime portal operated by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“Protecting children on our platforms is a priority for us,” a Meta spokesperson said, adding that the company was committed to working with the government to ensure perpetrators were held responsible. Meta said direct reporting to the I4C cybercrime portal would help strengthen efforts to combat such harm.

Inquiry follows BBC Eye investigation

The NCPCR inquiry follows a BBC Eye investigation that reported advertisements on Instagram allegedly promoting access to child sexual abuse material in India. The investigation alleged that some advertisements directed users towards Telegram channels where such material was being offered.

The report prompted the government and child-rights authorities to seek explanations from Meta and examine how the platform handled the material.

Until now, Meta has primarily reported child sexual abuse cases through the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which coordinates with law-enforcement agencies. The planned direct reporting route to I4C would add an India-based channel for such cases.

The National Human Rights Commission has also entered the picture, seeking reports from government authorities and the Delhi Police over allegations concerning paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material on Instagram.

For the NCPCR, the September 16 hearing is another step in the formal inquiry that began after Meta’s response to the July 3 notice. With repeated summonses, government scrutiny over paid advertising and a new direct reporting channel to Indian cybercrime authorities, the focus is increasingly moving beyond content removal to the systems through which harmful material can appear, spread and potentially be monetised.