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Meta Faces New Allegations of Running Ads Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material in India
Confirmed
In Short: A new report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) claims Meta ran hundreds of ads with AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery on Facebook and Instagram, despite India's government order to remove such content.
Meta continues to face scrutiny over its handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) ads on its platforms, according to a report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). The report, which was confirmed by the BBC, found 332 adverts with CSAM running on Facebook and Instagram, with 84 of these ads published in India. This comes two months after the Indian government ordered Meta to remove all ads and content promoting CSAM on Instagram, following a BBC investigation that revealed similar issues.
The report highlights that almost all the ads start with a photo of a child, which is then manipulated by AI to show them engaging in graphic sexual acts. The ads were posted by more than 50 different handles in India over a fortnight in August. According to TTP, the company was only able to report 55 of the 84 ads that ran in India, and more than a dozen ads appeared even after TTP made Meta aware of its findings.
In response to the BBC's investigation, Meta stated that it had built strong defenses, including systems that block violating ads and ongoing monitoring. However, the TTP claims that Meta did not fully comply with its own reporting system, and that the total ad spend was under $5,000. Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer for Just Rights for Children, has filed a petition in India's Supreme Court, calling for mandatory reporting and identification of those promoting CSAM.
Meta has acknowledged the issue, stating that it had disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting them. However, the TTP's findings suggest that the company may still be failing to adequately address the problem. The Indian government and several agencies are now examining the matter, with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Human Rights Commission among those involved.
What's confirmed
- Meta continues to face scrutiny over its handling of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) ads on its platforms, according to a report by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). The report, which was confirmed by the BBC, found 332 adverts with CSAM running on Facebook and Instagram, with 84 of these ads published in India. This comes two months after the Indian government ordered Meta to remove all ads and content promoting CSAM on Instagram, following a BBC investigation that revealed similar issues.
- The report highlights that almost all the ads start with a photo of a child, which is then manipulated by AI to show them engaging in graphic sexual acts. The ads were posted by more than 50 different handles in India over a fortnight in August. According to TTP, the company was only able to report 55 of the 84 ads that ran in India, and more than a dozen ads appeared even after TTP made Meta aware of its findings.
- In response to the BBC's investigation, Meta stated that it had built strong defenses, including systems that block violating ads and ongoing monitoring. However, the TTP claims that Meta did not fully comply with its own reporting system, and that the total ad spend was under $5,000. Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer for Just Rights for Children, has filed a petition in India's Supreme Court, calling for mandatory reporting and identification of those promoting CSAM.
- Meta has acknowledged the issue, stating that it had disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting them. However, the TTP's findings suggest that the company may still be failing to adequately address the problem. The Indian government and several agencies are now examining the matter, with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Human Rights Commission among those involved.
What's still developing
- When the BBC contacted Meta about its investigation, it said that when it becomes aware of apparent child exploitation, it reports it to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in compliance with its legal obligations.
- The TTP, a research initiative of the non-profit Campaign for Accountability that seeks to hold large technology companies accountable, said it found 332 ads featuring CSAM on Instagram and Facebook running in the US, UK, EU, Australia and India.
- In July, after BBC's investigation, Meta had put out a detailed post about how it fights child exploitation on its apps When the BBC reached out to Meta for a comment, they said, "we've built strong defenses, including systems that block violating ads as well as ongoing monitoring in case we initially miss something: that's why many of the ads flagged to us had already been removed, most had fewer than 200 impressions, and the total ad spend was under $5,000".
- TTP said that when it reached out to Meta for a response, all the ads they reported were removed.