Following a notice from the Indian government, Meta has released a report on the actions it has taken regarding Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM). Find out what the company said regarding the Instagram controversy.

On Tuesday (July 7), Meta released a detailed blog post outlining the measures it is taking against content related to the sexual exploitation and abuse of children on its platforms. The blog post comes at a time when the central government has issued a notice to Meta following reports of advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Material (CSEAM) appearing on Instagram.

In the blog post, Meta stated that the sexual exploitation of children is a grave crime and that the company takes action against such content on its platforms every day. The company acknowledged the recent reports concerning Instagram advertisements in India, noting that any advertisement or content violating its policies is not permitted on the platform.

Meta’s actions in figures

Meta claimed that over the past year, it removed more than 4 million suspicious accounts from Facebook and Instagram globally. Additionally, over 36 million pieces of content related to child sexual exploitation were removed. Regarding India, the company stated that in the last six months, it removed 160,000 accounts using AI tools; these accounts had been sharing links associated with suspicious activities linked to child sexual exploitation.

According to the company, between October and December 2025, 13 million pieces of content related to child sexual exploitation were removed from Facebook and Instagram. More than 96 percent of this content was identified and removed by the company itself before any user complaints were received.

Allegations dismissed

Meta also refuted allegations claiming that the company deliberately displays advertisements involving children to individuals with inappropriate interests in children. The company stated that its systems are designed to identify and take action against such suspicious accounts. The company states that its systems had already flagged numerous advertisements violating policies and the associated accounts. During subsequent investigations, additional ads were removed, multiple accounts were shut down, and URLs linked to objectionable content were blocked.

Information Shared with Law Enforcement Agencies

Meta stated that whenever it encounters cases involving the sexual exploitation of children, it reports the information to the US-based NCMEC (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). In India, this information reaches the National Cyber ​​Crime Reporting Portal via the NCMEC. The company claims to report more such cases than any other tech company.

Meta also noted that it is a founding member of the Tech Coalition’s ‘Lantern’ program. Under this initiative, tech companies share information regarding suspicious accounts with one another. According to the company, over 2 million signals have been shared through this program, resulting in more than 350,000 enforcement actions.

What is the Issue?

The controversy arose following a media report claiming that paid advertisements on Instagram were promoting content related to the sexual exploitation of children and directing users to other platforms.

Subsequently, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to summon Meta. On July 4, the Ministry issued a notice to Meta, ordering the immediate removal of all advertisements and content related to child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEAM). The company was also asked to provide a detailed response within seven days.

According to government sources, Meta has not yet submitted a formal response to this notice. Consequently, the blog post released on Tuesday is being viewed as the company’s public stance, while the official response to the Ministry is still awaited.