The Centre will summon Meta officials over advertisements hosted on Instagram that allegedly promoted child sexual abuse, sources said on Friday.
Photo:IANS
The Centre will summon Meta officials over advertisements hosted on Instagram that allegedly promoted child sexual abuse, sources said on Friday. This development came days after the Union government halted the WhatsApp username rollout in India.
According to the sources, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw issued the directives after reports claimed that Instagram, the social media platform run by Meta, was running advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse.
Advertisement
The sources said the minister took cognisance of reports that Instagram showcased certain objectionable material promoting child sexual abuse and directed officials to seek a response from Meta.
Advertisement
The ministry will seek an explanation from the US-based technology company regarding how such advertisements appeared on Instagram, one of its social media platforms, and the safeguards in place to prevent the circulation of such content, they said.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is expected to explain how the advertisements were allowed to run on its platform and what measures the company has taken to detect, remove and prevent content related to child sexual abuse.
The ministry is also likely to seek details of Meta’s content moderation mechanisms, advertisement review processes and the steps being taken to strengthen enforcement against illegal and harmful content on its platforms, sources added.
However, Meta hadn’t issued an official statement on the matter at the time of writing this news article.
The development comes days after the government halted the WhatsApp username rollout in India.
Responding to it, the messaging platform clarified that its upcoming username feature will be optional and reiterated that several safeguards have been built in to prevent impersonation, scams and unwanted contact as it prepares for a wider rollout later this year.
The messaging platform addressed a series of frequently asked questions on microblogging platform X after concerns were raised over the feature, including by the government which asked the company to defer its rollout in the country pending consultations.
The company said users will not be required to create a username and that existing Instagram and Facebook usernames, along with those of public figures, celebrities, government entities and Meta Verified accounts, have been reserved so only their legitimate owners can claim them.
Meanwhile, representatives of Meta met officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Friday following the government’s notice over the proposed rollout of the “usernames” feature on WhatsApp in India, sources said.
According to the sources, ministry officials apprised Meta of the government’s concerns regarding the feature during the meeting.
As the company has been given three days to furnish a detailed explanation, Meta will submit its final response within the stipulated timeline.
Earlier this week, the Centre issued a notice to Meta directing it to provide a detailed explanation on the proposed “usernames” feature within three days.
Advertisement
