Meta continues to run ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India - report
The report follows a BBC Eye investigation that found Instagram running paid ads promoting such material in India.
A new report has uncovered hundreds of paid advertisements promoted by Meta featuring artificial intelligence-generated child sexual abuse imagery, including in India, over the past ten months. The investigation by the US-based Tech Transparency Project (TTP) discovered 332 such ads on Facebook and Instagram, with the majority appearing in August this year.
Meta's policy prohibits ads that sexually exploit or endanger children, yet the report found that after TTP alerted Meta to its findings, more than a dozen ads continued to run. The distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is illegal in India, and Meta's policy states that ads must not contain content that exploits or endangers children.
The Indian government had previously ordered Meta to remove all ads and content promoting CSAM from Instagram following a BBC investigation. Meta stated in response that it does not tolerate nudify apps or any kind of child exploitation, and it is strengthening its detection and enforcement measures. The report highlighted several manipulated photos of real children, including a member of a European royal family, being used in the ads.
Despite the BBC contacting Meta about the investigation, Meta reported that most of the ads had already been removed. However, the Indian network, Just Rights for Children, has filed a petition in the country's Supreme Court, urging social media platforms to report and identify those promoting child sexual abuse material.
Written by urgent.news from BBC Technology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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