Meta says removed 1.6 lakh suspicious accounts in India after scrutiny over child abuse content

New Delhi: Meta has said it removed around 1.6 lakh suspicious Facebook and Instagram accounts in India over the past six months as part of efforts to combat child sexual exploitation, responding to allegations that its platforms had carried advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

The statement came after a BBC Eye investigation alleged that paid advertisements on Instagram directed users in India to Telegram channels where child sexual abuse material was being sold, as reported by The News Minute.

According to the report, Meta's recommendation systems amplified videos containing CSAM, while advertisements promoting such content remained visible despite the company's policies prohibiting sexually explicit and exploitative material.

Responding to the allegations, Meta said it had already identified and disabled several offending advertisements and accounts before the BBC brought the cases to its attention.

"Our enforcement systems had already identified and disabled several of the violating ads and the accounts behind them," the company said, adding that a subsequent review resulted in the removal of additional advertisements, accounts and web links associated with policy-violating content.

Meta said it has a "zero-tolerance" policy towards child sexual exploitation, including the sharing or solicitation of child abuse imagery, inappropriate interactions involving minors and the sexualisation of children.

Rejecting suggestions that its systems deliberately targeted users with such advertisements, the company described the claim as "categorically inaccurate."

It said technology deployed across its platforms is designed to detect suspicious activity involving children and automatically identify accounts that may pose a risk.

According to the company, more than four million suspicious Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to child safety concerns were removed globally last year, while automated systems also detected and removed over 36 million pieces of content related to child exploitation.

Meta said advanced artificial intelligence tools are used to identify suspicious off-platform links and other indicators of child exploitative activity, resulting in the removal of about 1.6 lakh accounts in India during the past six months.

The company said apparent instances of child exploitation are reported to law enforcement authorities through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). In India, it said such reports are forwarded to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal in compliance with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and related rules.