Instagram carried ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India: report
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Instagram carried paid advertisements in India promoting child sexual abuse material and directing users to Telegram channels selling such content, a BBC investigation has alleged.
According to the report, the advertisements passed Instagram's moderation systems before being published, raising questions about the effectiveness of Meta's content review process.
The BBC said it created a test account in India and followed several accounts featuring lifestyle content. Within days, the account began receiving advertisements for adult content, followed by ads that sexualised children and linked users to Telegram channels.
The ads used terms like "rape video" and "child video" and included lik to Telegram channels where they can buy the videos for as little as Rs 99.
The broadcaster said it identified around 30 advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material and about 20 advertisements for adult pornography. It reported the advertisements and the associated Telegram channels to Indian authorities.
The BBC investigators also noticed that Instagram was pushing sexually suggestive content even when the user hadn't searched for it.
In the first week, ads featured women offering video calls and naked people having sex. A few days later, ads showing children and adults in sexually suggestive situations were seen. One of the videos featured a boy and girl - both around 12 years old. Another ad showed an older man and a girl appearing to be 52 and 12 with the words "click to watch more".
According to the BBC, Instagram initially responded to one reported advertisement by saying it did not violate the platform's community standards. After the BBC sought Meta's response, the company said it had removed several advertisements, suspended the accounts responsible and blocked additional URLs linked to the content.
Meta said no moderation system was perfect and that it uses proactive detection technology to identify policy violations. It also said it refers apparent cases of child exploitation to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, as required by law.
Telegram said it combines automated and human moderation and has removed more than 274,000 groups and channels linked to child sexual abuse material this year. It said one of the two channels flagged by the BBC had been removed for violating its terms of service.
According to the investigation, India received 1.9 million reports related to child sexual abuse material last year, the second highest globally after the United States.
Reacting to the report, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called the findings "extremely concerning" and urged social media platforms to proactively eliminate such content, saying "mere lip service is not enough."