Meta says it has zero-tolerance policy against child sexual abuse material

Meta said it maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards child sexual abuse material and uses AI to detect and remove violating content. The statement follows reports that the Centre is seeking an explanation over alleged CSAM-related advertisements that appeared on Instagram

New Delhi: Meta on Sunday said it maintains a zero tolerance policy towards the solicitation or sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including through advertisements, asserting that it uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to proactively detect and remove violating content while continuously strengthening its safeguards against offenders.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said the company is in a constant battle with criminals who attempt to evade its detection systems by hiding among its 3.5 billion users.

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“Meta has a zero tolerance policy for soliciting or sharing CSAM, including in ads. We use advanced AI technology to proactively detect violating content and individuals, but we are in a constant battle with criminals who hide among our 3.5 billion users and try to evade our detection,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that Meta’s expert teams are continually improving the company’s defences, developing new technologies to identify predators, blocking links to websites hosting abusive content, and sharing intelligence with other technology companies to help them take action.

The statement comes after reports that Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to summon Meta officials over advertisements allegedly promoting child sexual abuse that appeared on Instagram.

According to sources, the ministry is expected to seek an explanation from the US-based technology company on how such advertisements appeared on Instagram and what safeguards are in place to prevent the circulation of such content.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is also likely to be asked to explain its advertisement review processes, content moderation systems and the measures it has adopted to detect, remove and prevent child sexual abuse-related content on its platforms.

The ministry is expected to seek details on the company’s enforcement mechanisms and the steps being taken to further strengthen protections against illegal and harmful content, sources had said.

The development comes days after the government asked WhatsApp to defer the rollout of its username feature in India pending consultations. In response, the messaging platform clarified that usernames will be optional and said multiple safeguards have been built into the feature to prevent impersonation, scams and unwanted contact before its wider rollout later this year.