Meta India Executives Appear Before NCPCR In Child Abuse Ad Probe

After IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw ordered MeitY to act, Meta India's leadership faces questioning from India's child rights commission over alleged ad safeguard failures

PGurus Newsdesk

September 9, 2026

NCPCR took suo motu cognisance of the matter on July 3 after a BBC Eye report alleged gaps in Meta's ad safeguards, and summoned Meta India's top executives for a hearing on September 9.

India’s child rights body summons Meta India’s top executives after a BBC Eye report alleged the platform’s algorithm

Senior executives of Meta India — including the company’s managing director and head of public policy — appeared before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Wednesday, as the statutory body investigates allegations of advertisements linked to Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material (CSEAM) on Meta’s platforms. Details of the questioning were not immediately made public.

How The Inquiry Started

The NCPCR took suo motu cognisance of the matter on July 3, acting on a BBC Eye investigation that alleged Meta’s recommendation systems had failed to prevent CSEAM-related advertisements from appearing on Facebook and Instagram — despite Meta’s own advertising policies explicitly prohibiting nudity and sexually explicit content. The commission sought a formal explanation from Meta Platforms, Inc., which submitted its response a week later. After reviewing that reply, the NCPCR decided to institute a full inquiry and summoned Meta India’s leadership to appear before it.

Government Pressure Preceded The Summons

The regulatory scrutiny intensified after IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed officials at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to summon Meta over the Instagram ads. The BBC’s reporting had specifically flagged gaps in Meta’s algorithmic safeguards, alleging that the platform’s recommendation engine was promoting videos containing child sexual abuse material to users.

What Happens Next

The hearing is intended to establish the facts around the allegations and examine how Meta responded once the child rights body raised its concerns. The NCPCR, a statutory body under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, is mandated to monitor enforcement of child protection laws including the POCSO Act.

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