'Categorically Inaccurate': Meta Defends Instagram Child Abuse Ads, But Questions Remain as Violating Content Is Still Accessible

Meta has issued a detailed defence of its child safety efforts after facing intense scrutiny over reports that Instagram carried advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India. While the company says it has removed several offending ads and accounts and operates a "zero-tolerance" policy towards child exploitation, questions remain over the effectiveness of its enforcement, with Republic World independently finding that some violating advertisements are still accessible on the platform.

The response comes days after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) directed Meta to explain how such advertisements were approved and ordered the company to strengthen its moderation systems. The government has also sought assurances that similar content does not continue to appear on Instagram.

Meta Says It Removed Ads Before They Were Reported

In its statement, Meta says several violating advertisements and advertiser accounts had already been identified and disabled by its automated enforcement systems before the recent media reports surfaced. The company added that a follow-up investigation resulted in additional advertisements, advertiser accounts and external URLs being removed. However, it acknowledged that "no system is perfect" and said criminals continually attempt to exploit its advertising platform.

That explanation, however, is unlikely to satisfy critics, particularly as advertisements violating Meta's own policies continue to surface despite the company's assurances.

Republic World Finds Violating Ads Still Live

Despite Meta's claim that it has acted aggressively against offending advertisements, Republic World has independently verified that some advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material remain accessible on Instagram even after the government's intervention. The findings raise fresh questions about whether Meta's automated moderation systems and manual review processes are sufficient to detect and remove such content before it reaches users. The continued presence of these advertisements also comes despite the Centre's direction to Meta to act swiftly against policy-violating content.

Meta Rejects Allegations of Deliberate Targeting

Meta has also pushed back strongly against suggestions that its advertising systems intentionally targeted such advertisements towards users with an inappropriate interest in children. Calling the allegation "categorically inaccurate", the company said it instead uses technology to identify suspicious behaviour and automatically remove accounts linked to potential child exploitation.

According to Meta, it removed more than four million suspicious accounts globally last year and continues investing in AI systems designed to identify abusive behaviour before users report it.

AI, Human Review and Advertiser Checks

The company says every advertisement is reviewed through a combination of automated systems and manual moderation before it appears on Facebook or Instagram. Meta says it also evaluates advertiser behaviour beyond individual advertisements and can restrict business accounts, Pages and advertising accounts found violating its policies.

Yet the latest controversy suggests that determined bad actors are still able to bypass those safeguards, raising concerns about whether existing review mechanisms are keeping pace with increasingly sophisticated abuse.

Meta Highlights Its Enforcement Numbers

As part of its defence, Meta released several figures intended to demonstrate the scale of its child safety operations. The company says it removed 13 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content globally between October and December 2025, with more than 96% detected proactively before users reported them.

In India, Meta says its systems removed 160,000 accounts over the past six months after detecting suspicious activity involving off-platform links associated with child exploitation.

The company also highlighted its collaboration with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), Indian law enforcement agencies and the Lantern intelligence-sharing initiative, which allows participating technology companies to exchange signals about predatory accounts and behaviour.

Scrutiny Is Unlikely to End Here

Meta's response is its most detailed public defence since the controversy emerged, but it may not be enough to end the matter. With the Centre seeking explanations, ongoing regulatory scrutiny and policy-violating advertisements still being found on Instagram, the focus is now likely to shift from Meta's published enforcement statistics to a more fundamental question: why does prohibited content continue to appear on the platform despite repeated assurances that it is being proactively detected and removed?