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Meta’s woes deepen in India as child abuse ads on Instagram draw government ire
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The Indian government has warned of action against two of Meta's three major platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, within a week, underscoring the growing regulatory risks the U.S. social media giant faces in a key market.
Key facts
- On Saturday, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a " stern notice to Meta over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative & Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements
- The country has the largest audience base for Instagram, with more than 480 million users, more than double the U.S. as of 2025, as per data from Statista
- Earlier this year, the European Commission found that the social media giant was violating EU law by failing to prevent children below 13 from accessing its platforms
- I would describe India as a more demanding regulatory market rather than a hostile one," Reema Bhattacharya, head of Asia research at Verisk Maplecroft, told CNBC
Summary
On Saturday, India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a " stern notice to Meta over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative & Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram," according to a report by Indian state broadcaster DD News. The government has directed Instagram to "immediately disable all advertisements and content that promote" child abuse and has sought a detailed explanation from Meta within seven days, the report said. The regulatory warning to Meta came after an investigation by the BBC revealed on Friday that Instagram was running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India. Meta has a "Zero tolerance policy" for child abuse-related content, a spokesperson for Meta told CNBC in an email.