India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will summon Meta, after reports claimed that Instagram, the social media platform run by Meta, was running advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse material or CSAM.

Distribution of pornography and child sexual abuse material is a criminal offence in India under its digital laws.

Quoting unnamed sources, an ANI news report yesterday stated the Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) has taken cognisance of reports that Instagram showcased certain objectionable material that promoted child sexual abuse and has issued directions to officials to seek a response from Meta.

A media report had claimed that Instagram hosted paid adverts with objectionable terms like “rape video” and “child video” with links to other social media channels where they can be purchased.

In its response to the report, Meta said that it has disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting them.

According to ANI, under Section 67 (B) of the IT Act in India, it is a punishable offence to publish or transmit material depicting children in sexually explicit acts, etc. in electronic form.

Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material refers to material containing sexual images in any form of a child who is abused or sexually exploited, according to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

Content posted on these social media intermediaries is guided by their content policy and community guidelines, and users can report or flag material that they find inappropriate or feel violate their community guidelines.