The Central Government has shown strictness regarding paid advertisements and content related to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material- CSEAM on the social media platform Instagram and has asked Meta to remove it immediately. According to sources, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed META to remove all such paid advertisements and content that in any way promote or facilitate users’ access to CSEAM.
Instagram removes content related to sexual exploitation of children
According to sources, the Central Government made it clear in the notice that any kind of material related to sexual exploitation of children will not be tolerated. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked META to immediately disable all such paid advertisements and related content on Instagram. Apart from this, it should also be ensured that such content does not appear on social media platforms in future.
META will have to reply to the government in 7 days
Sources say that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has given 7 days time to META to respond on this matter. The government has asked META how this type of content and advertisements appeared on Instagram and what steps have been taken so far to stop them. The government has demanded a detailed report and explanation from META on how such lapses occurred in its content moderation system and ad review process.
Questions were also asked about algorithm from META
Apart from this, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also told META that if its algorithms are playing any role in making content related to sexual exploitation reach more users, then it should also be banned immediately. The Central Government believes that immediate action should be taken against any technology or algorithmic system promoting such content.
Step taken amid growing concerns regarding the safety of children
It is noteworthy that the Central Government has taken this step amid increasing concerns regarding the safety of children on social media platforms. The responsibility of social media companies is not only limited to removing objectionable content, but it is also their responsibility to develop strong technical systems to identify and prevent the spread of such content.
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