BBC investigation finds Meta failed to curb spread of child sexual abuse material
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A BBC investigation has found that the dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is being driven through Meta platforms such as Instagram and Facebook with little effective restraint, while experts warn that the company's advertising algorithms appear to be geared primarily towards maximising revenue and user engagement rather than safeguarding vulnerable users.
The investigation, conducted by BBC journalist Divya Arya, found that advertisements promoting child sexual abuse content were circulating on Instagram and Facebook despite Meta's advertising policies expressly prohibiting nudity and sexually exploitative material. Many of the advertisements directed users to Telegram channels that allegedly hosted sexually explicit content involving children.
Brian Boland, a former Facebook vice-president who has since become a whistleblower, said he was "horrified and unsurprised" by the findings. He argued that Meta's advertising systems, left largely to pursue commercial objectives, inevitably produce harmful outcomes when not subjected to rigorous human oversight.
"Because they are not responsibly guiding and controlling it, and it is just pursuing the goals of revenue and clicks, it will create these outcomes if people are not being truly aggressively protective over these systems," Boland told the BBC.
Describing Meta's advertising algorithm as an "absolutely careless machine", Boland said the company had become increasingly dependent on automated systems to review and approve advertisements. He warned that excessive reliance on technical solutions had weakened the safeguards needed to prevent harmful content from reaching users.
Boland further contended that decisions concerning the degree of oversight exercised over advertisement reviews would not have been made without the knowledge of Meta's senior leadership. While he said it was difficult to assign responsibility to any one individual, he alleged that major policy decisions could not have been taken without the awareness of Instagram head Adam Mosseri and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
"The company has dramatically underinvested in keeping people safe," he said.
As part of its investigation, the BBC also spoke to cybercrime officials in India and sought responses from senior Meta executives regarding the findings.