Why is NCPCR investigating Meta, Instagram?

Story so far: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned Met officials for a hearing on Wednesday (September 9, 2026) as part of its inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation and Exploitation Material (CSEAM) on Instagram. An investigation by the UK’s public broadcaster the BBC revealed many advertisements that referenced CSEAM on other platforms. The IT Ministry also summoned the company about the problem.

What did the BBC investigation show?

In July, the BBC reported that the organization had seen dozens of ads promoting CSEAM on Instagram with a test account. CSEAM is banned worldwide and subject to severe criminal penalties. Meta said in a statement: “Before we were alerted to these cases, our enforcement systems had already identified and disabled several infringing ads and the accounts behind them.”

Also Read: Google to Report Child Abuse Content Directly to Indian Authorities

The company said it automatically removes millions of CSAM posting accounts every year, but that “no system is perfect and determined criminals will continue to try to abuse our platform.” This month, the Tech Transparency Project announced that it had found hundreds of ads on Facebook and Instagram depicting sexual abuse, including some that were delivered to India.

Why are CSEAM ads showing up on Instagram?

While social media platforms ban CSEAM, automated moderation systems that use some artificial intelligence to detect illegal media are not able to catch all violations. The Tech Transparency Project, a US-based non-profit, said what Meta was doing was not enough, even within the limits of what it could do. The non-profit organization said that even in cases where Meta removed CSEAM, it labeled the ads as adult sexual content and thus “may be underreporting cases of child sexual abuse.”

While the firm revised that information for ads reported by TTP, it “did not correct the flow of child abuse content in its advertising system” and continued to serve CSEAM ads to certain audiences, the nonprofit said. One of the ads appeared to feature an unidentified “underage European royal,” TTP said.

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Many such ads were placed by “sellers” for ad spots on China-based Meta platforms, which account for billions of dollars in ad revenue. TTP pointed to a Reuters report that said ads running through the channel were subject to a looser enforcement regime, with the platform earning $18 billion in 2024. This channel is intended for Chinese companies that want to advertise to foreign customers.

Even if a person reported CSEAM posts, action was not guaranteed, TTP found. “With 57% (73) of CSAM ads reported to Meta, the company sent back a message that said, ‘We looked and found this ad does not violate our advertising standards,'” TTP said.

What was the NCPCR’s response to the report?

The NCPCR issued a notice on July 3, the same day as the BBC report, demanding an explanation from the company. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) also sought an explanation from the company.

Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 23 video message to the youth of India was briefly removed from Facebook due to an “error,” MeitY called Met Global Director of Public Affairs Joel Kaplan to demand an explanation for the removal. BBC news coverage was also discussed at this meeting. The summons came as the government sent out a huge number of takedown notices on Instagram posts about the Jantar Mantar protests and footage of the protests and subsequent police crackdown went viral.

Meta provided written responses to both MeitY and NCPCR. The latter refused The Hindu’s Right to Information request for a copy of the company’s reply, arguing that providing the information would hamper its investigation.

After a written reply, Met officials were summoned by the NCPCR this month. Neither party described the meeting.

What powers does the NCPCR have to conduct such an inquiry?

Like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), establishing the NCPCR Act, the Child Rights Commissions Act, 2005 gives the body the powers of a civil court under the Criminal Code (recently replaced by the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Act, 2023).

As such, it has the legal power to seek explanations on child safety issues from private organizations and can request reports from law enforcement agencies.

The NCPCR’s remit includes “matters relating to children in need of special care and protection, including children in need, marginalized and disadvantaged children, children in conflict with the law, juveniles, children without families and children of prisoners and to recommend appropriate remedial measures” and to “(i) investigate complaints (regarding) non-implementation of laws ensuring the protection and development of children,” the commission said.

The NCPCR has in the past issued notices to companies such as Netflix in response to the Bombay Begums show and Bourn Vita manufacturer Mondelez over the sugar content of their malt powder.

Published – 13 Sep 2026 05:25 IST