India notified Meta Platforms Inc that it needs to remove sexual content involving children from its platforms, including Instagram, marking the latest regulatory headache for the US tech giant.
The technology ministry on July 4 told Meta to disable all advertisements and other content that involves abuse and sexual exploitation of children, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified as the matter is not public.
Meta was ordered to provide a detailed response to the government, the people said.
Neither Meta nor the ministry responded to a request for comment on July 5.
A BBC investigation, published on July 3, revealed that child abuse material was used in some Instagram advertisements in India.
Meta previously said in a statement that it has a “zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing” such content, adding that its teams were constantly working to improve defences.
Meta’s WhatsApp has also drawn scrutiny from the Indian government after it began allowing users to reserve a username in a move it said boosts privacy. The tech ministry has ordered the company to delay the feature’s rollout and asked Meta to address fears that the change could fuel online fraud, scams and impersonation.
India’s latest moves against Meta follow previous run-ins between the government and the company over issues including privacy and encryption.
India is the biggest market by users for Meta’s Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps.
The pressure on the social media giant comes amid increased scrutiny and tougher regulatory environments for the platforms in a growing number of countries.
The UK last month announced that children under 16 would be prevented from using all major social media platforms, following similar action by Australia. Brazil will require that children under 16 can only maintain social media accounts linked to legal guardians, while Malaysia will prohibit accounts for under-16s from next year. – Bloomberg
