Meta faces fresh scrutiny: NCPCR summons India chief over alleged abuse material ads

New Delhi: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned Meta India’s Managing Director and Head to appear before it on September 9 in connection with an inquiry into alleged advertisements related to child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM) on Meta-owned platforms.

The child rights body began proceedings after taking suo motu cognisance on July 3 of a BBC Eye report that raised allegations about the presence of such advertisements. NCPCR had sought an explanation from Meta Platforms, Inc., and the company submitted its response a week later.

After examining Meta’s submission, the commission decided to institute an inquiry to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegations. The summons to Meta India’s leadership forms part of those ongoing proceedings.

Government scrutiny of Instagram

The NCPCR action comes after the government also sought answers from Meta over similar allegations. In July, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed Instagram to disable advertisements and content that promoted or facilitated access to CSEAM and sought a detailed explanation from the platform.

The action followed IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s direction for officials to summon Meta over allegations concerning Instagram advertisements.

The BBC investigation had also raised questions about Meta’s recommendation systems and whether its algorithms could promote harmful material. The report alleged that advertisements using terms associated with child sexual abuse were appearing on Meta platforms and directing users towards external channels where such material was allegedly being offered.

These allegations have not been established by the NCPCR inquiry, which is now examining the facts and Meta’s response.

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NHRC also seeks investigation

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has separately directed the Delhi Police to investigate allegations involving paid advertisements on Instagram.

The NHRC asked the police to examine the allegations and determine whether Meta and other entities concerned complied with reporting obligations under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. It sought an Action Taken Report from the Delhi Police in July and followed up on the matter later that month.

The parallel proceedings mean Meta is facing scrutiny from multiple Indian authorities over allegations concerning the detection, moderation and reporting of illegal child sexual exploitation material.

Wider questions over Meta’s moderation systems

The NCPCR inquiry also comes amid broader regulatory questions about how Meta-owned platforms moderate and distribute harmful content in India. These concerns extend beyond CSEAM to issues such as deepfakes, recommendation algorithms, previously removed synthetic content resurfacing and moderation of Indian-language content.

Another area of debate is Meta’s intermediary protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The provision can provide intermediaries with protection from liability for user-generated content when statutory conditions and due-diligence requirements are met.

The question of how such protections apply when platforms detect, recommend, moderate or otherwise distribute content has become part of the wider regulatory discussion around large social-media platforms.

The September 9 appearance of Meta India’s leadership before NCPCR could provide further information about the company’s response to the allegations and the safeguards it has in place to prevent illegal child sexual exploitation material from being advertised or circulated.

At this stage, the NCPCR proceedings are an inquiry into allegations and are intended to establish the facts. The summons itself does not establish that Meta violated Indian law.