Meta replies to Centre’s notice on Instagram ads, action likely after scrutiny: IT secretary

New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has received Meta’s response to the government’s notice over alleged Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) advertisements on Instagram and is examining it, Information Technology secretary S Krishnan said on Monday. He added that the government would decide its next course of action after reviewing the company’s reply.According to PTI, Krishnan said, “On the CSAM content, we had issued a notice to Meta, and the reply has been received. It is currently under examination.”The response was submitted on Saturday, the deadline set by the Centre after it issued a notice to Meta over the presence of Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) in paid advertisements on Instagram, according to PTI.Krishnan said the government would take action only after scrutinising the company’s response.The Centre had earlier directed Instagram to immediately disable all advertisements and content that promoted or facilitated access to CSEAM. The notice also sought a detailed explanation from Meta within a specified timeframe over the platform’s handling of such content.Within days of receiving the notice, Meta published a blog post outlining measures it said were already in place to tackle child sexual abuse material across its platforms. The company said it uses artificial intelligence-powered detection systems and carries out large-scale enforcement actions to identify and remove abusive content.Meta also said it would continue investing in technology and safety resources to protect young users and strengthen its advertisement review processes.The government’s scrutiny comes amid heightened focus on online child safety and platform accountability. The outcome of MeitY’s examination of Meta’s response is expected to determine whether the Centre proceeds with regulatory or legal action against the social media company.