Information and technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to summon Meta over paid ads on Instagram allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material, sources said on Friday.
The move came after a BBC report flagged the issue and raised concern about the effectiveness of the social media platform’s content moderation system.
The BBC investigation revealed that some ads featured images appearing to depict children in sexually explicit situations and directed users to channels on Telegram, where such illegal content was allegedly sold for as little as ₹99.
The BBC said it reported all such ads and the Telegram channels to the Indian authorities. The report by the British broadcaster stated that it had flagged one such ad to Instagram, which said it hadn’t removed the advertisement as it did not violate its community standards.
The report also found advertisements of this nature appearing on Facebook, despite Meta’s advertising policies explicitly prohibiting nudity and sexually explicit content.
Following the BBC report, Amitabh Thakur, president of Uttar Pradesh-based Azad Adhikar Sena, has submitted a detailed representation to the cabinet secretary seeking a high-level inter-agency inquiry into the matter.
This is the second instance this week when the government has turned up the heat on Meta.
On Wednesday, the Centre had issued a notice to Meta questioning the planned username feature on WhatsApp, citing concerns that it could increase online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks.
It directed the platform to pause the feature until consultations on the issue were completed “to the satisfaction of the government”.
The Centre had also asked Meta to explain why action shouldn’t be initiated under the IT Act and rules over WhatsApp’s new feature that might increase cybercrimes.
The government had also reminded Meta that WhatsApp, as a significant social media intermediary, was bound by due diligence obligations under the IT Act and rules.
Sources on Friday said a team from Meta met officials in the IT ministry following the notice.
They said Meta would submit its final reply on the “usernames” feature within the three-day timeline.
“Meta team met Meity (ministry of electronics and information technology) officials today following the notice summoning them on the issue of rollout of the ‘username’ feature on WhatsApp in India. Ministry officials sensitised them about the government’s concern relating to the feature,” a source said.
TET impersonators
Eleven impersonators and a candidate using unfair means were caught on Friday on the second day of the three-day Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET)-2026, an official said.
The exam was conducted in two shifts at 955 centres across 60 districts. The first shift was held for the upper primary level and the second for the primary level.
During the first shift, nine impersonators appearing in place of registered candidates and one candidate with a mobile hidden in his shoe were caught. In the second shift, two more impersonators were apprehended.
Additional reporting by PTI