A BBC investigation has found that Instagram approved and displayed paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India before later remo...
A BBC investigation has found that Instagram approved and displayed paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India before later removing the adverts after being contacted by the broadcaster. The investigation raises fresh concerns over the effectiveness of Meta’s advertising moderation systems and the role of social media platforms in preventing the spread of illegal content.
According to the BBC World Service investigation, the adverts contained phrases such as “rape video” and “child video” and directed users to channels on the messaging platform Telegram, where illegal material was allegedly being sold for as little as 99 Indian rupees, about one US dollar. The BBC said all advertisements had passed Instagram’s advertising review process before appearing on users’ feeds.
The broadcaster reported that after flagging one of the adverts through Instagram’s reporting system, the platform responded 24 hours later saying the advert did not violate its community standards. However, after the BBC contacted Meta directly with its findings, the company removed several advertisements, suspended the accounts responsible and blocked additional links that breached its policies.
Advertisement
Meta said child exploitation is a serious crime and that it works aggressively to remove such material from its platforms. The company acknowledged that no moderation system is perfect and said its review process may fail to detect some policy violations. It added that when it identifies apparent child exploitation, it reports the material to the United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which shares reports with law enforcement agencies around the world.
To conduct the investigation, the BBC created an alias Instagram account in India after noticing the platform recommended increasingly sexualised content without users actively searching for it. The account initially followed ten creators posting suggestive but legal content. Within days, Instagram began displaying advertisements featuring adult pornography and later adverts depicting children in sexually suggestive situations that linked directly to Telegram channels.
The BBC said it recorded about 30 unique advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material, with some adverts appearing from multiple accounts. It also found around 20 advertisements containing adult pornographic content. Both child sexual abuse material and the distribution of pornography are criminal offences under Indian law, while Meta’s advertising policies prohibit adult nudity and any content that sexually exploits or endangers children.
Among the advertisements identified by the BBC was one showing two children, believed to be around 12 years old, engaged in a sexual act. Another featured a man identified as 52 years old with a girl described as 12 years old alongside text inviting users to “Click to watch more.” One advert showing a young girl apparently in distress after sexual abuse remained online even after it was reported through Instagram’s reporting system, with the platform stating it did not breach its standards before later removing it following the BBC’s inquiries.
The investigation also examined Telegram, where the advertisements directed users. The BBC reported two Telegram channels selling child sexual abuse videos. One was removed after being reported and replaced with a notice stating it had violated Telegram’s Terms of Service, while another reportedly remained active and continued advertising illegal material. Telegram said it has removed more than 274,000 groups and channels related to child sexual abuse material during 2026 and stated that automated systems together with human moderators have “virtually eliminated” the public spread of such content.
Former Facebook executive Brian Boland described the BBC’s findings as both “horrified and unsurprised.” Boland, who worked for the company from 2009 to 2020 and helped build its advertising business, said algorithms designed to maximise engagement can unintentionally promote increasingly extreme content if they are not carefully controlled. He said user safety should always take priority over advertising revenue and criticised what he described as a shift in company priorities over time.
The investigation has also prompted concern among legal and child protection experts in India. Former Supreme Court Justice Madan Lokur said the allegations were serious enough for India’s Supreme Court to consider taking action on its own initiative. While Indian law generally protects social media companies from liability for user-generated content, he argued that platforms still have a responsibility to prevent criminal activity from being facilitated through their services. Child protection organisations in India also warned that criminals increasingly exploit the movement of users between Instagram and Telegram to avoid moderation and continue distributing illegal material.
Meta rejected suggestions that it knowingly promoted child sexual abuse content or prioritised advertising revenue over user safety. The company said it automatically disabled more than four million accounts in 2025 that showed suspicious behaviour linked to potential exploitation and continues investing in artificial intelligence, expert review teams and intelligence-sharing partnerships to improve detection. The BBC said it reported all identified advertisements and Telegram channels to the relevant Indian authorities as investigations into online child exploitation continue.
