Centre issues notice to Meta on Instagram ads linked to child sexual abuse

A Meta spokesperson said the company has a “zero-tolerance” policy on sharing such content, and that Instagram deploys artificial intelligence (AI) tools to proactively detect it.

“Meta has a zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM, including in ads. We use advanced AI technology to proactively detect violating content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection. That is why our expert teams are constantly working to improve our defences, develop new technology to root out predators, block links to violating websites, and share intelligence with other companies so they can take action too,” the spokesperson said.

The episode has ignited an important conversation surrounding safe harbour available to social media companies, under which they are allowed legal immunity from hosting third-party, user-generated content on their platforms.

The key idea behind the immunity is that companies do not have prior knowledge of what users might post on their platforms, and as a result cannot be held liable for them until such content is brought to their notice, under a legal provision called “actual knowledge”.

However, the government is now considering whether such protections should be available to companies for hosting advertisements, given that there is a preliminary moderation that platforms are expected to carry out while reviewing advertising material.

“It cannot be a case where a social media platform is allowed to host such deeply problematic advertisements, and have no consequences due to safe harbour protections. We are discussing whether advertisements on social media should have the same protections as regular content,” an official said.

Broadly, many are also seeing the development as a potential precursor that could kickstart conversations within the Centre around regulatory protections for children on social media.

Countries like Australia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, among others, have moved to ban social media access for children. India is learnt to have discussed a graded approach to such limits but a concrete step is yet to be taken, The Indian Express had reported earlier.

This is the second instance within a week when Meta has found itself in the crosshairs of the Indian government.
Earlier, the government asked Meta-owned WhatsApp to not roll out its upcoming username feature over concerns of impersonation and fraud. In a notice issued to the company, the IT Ministry gave WhatsApp three days to furnish a detailed explanation on the username feature.

In its notice, the government is understood to have told WhatsApp that the feature may materially increase the incidence of online fraud, phishing, digital arrest scams and impersonation attacks, by enabling bad actors to solicit and message unsuspecting users. The government has also flagged that the feature may facilitate impersonation of individuals, public authorities, financial institutions and government agencies, by permitting the adoption of usernames closely resembling those of genuine people and institutions.