A BBC investigation has found that Instagram carried paid advertisements in India promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM), raising serious concerns about the effectiveness of Meta’s advertising review system and online safety measures.
According to the BBC World Service’s Eye investigation, the advertisements contained phrases such as “rape video” and “child video” and directed users to channels on the messaging platform Telegram, where illegal material was allegedly offered for sale for as little as 99 Indian rupees, or about one US dollar.
The investigation revealed that Instagram’s automated moderation system had approved the advertisements before publication. When the BBC reported one of the ads through Instagram’s reporting tools, the platform responded 24 hours later, stating that the advertisement did not violate its community guidelines.
After the BBC sought comment from Meta, the company said it had removed several advertisements, suspended the accounts responsible and blocked additional links that violated its policies. Meta acknowledged that no moderation system is perfect and said it continues to improve its automated detection tools while reporting suspected child exploitation cases to the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), as required by law.
The BBC created a new Instagram account in India for the investigation after noticing that the platform recommended increasingly sexualised content. Within days, the account began receiving advertisements featuring adult sexual content and later ads depicting children in sexually suggestive situations, linking users to Telegram channels.
Investigators identified around 30 unique advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material, along with approximately 20 advertisements containing adult pornography. Both the distribution of child sexual abuse material and pornography are criminal offences under Indian law.
Telegram said it had removed more than 274,000 groups and channels linked to child sexual abuse material during 2026. Following the BBC’s report, one of the identified Telegram channels was taken down for violating the platform’s terms of service, although another reportedly remained active.
The findings have prompted criticism from legal experts and former Meta executives. Retired Indian Supreme Court Justice Madan Lokur described the allegations as serious enough to warrant judicial intervention, arguing that social media platforms cannot avoid responsibility when criminal material is promoted through their services.
Former Facebook executive Brian Boland, who helped build the company’s advertising business before leaving in 2020, said he was disturbed by the findings. He argued that recommendation systems designed to maximise user engagement can unintentionally promote increasingly extreme content if not carefully monitored. Boland also said business priorities had gradually shifted toward revenue generation at the expense of user safety.
Meta rejected suggestions that it knowingly targeted users with such advertisements or prioritised advertising income over child protection. The company said it automatically disabled more than four million accounts in 2025 for displaying suspicious behaviour linked to child exploitation and continues to develop new technology to identify offenders, remove illegal content and share intelligence with law enforcement agencies and industry partners.
Child protection organisations in India have also raised concerns about criminals using Instagram to direct users to Telegram, making it more difficult for authorities to remove illegal content and dismantle organised networks involved in child exploitation.
