India orders Meta to remove Instagram ads promoting child abuse

Regulatory pressure in India represents a major operational risk for Meta, as the company faces potential loss of "safe harbor" legal protections under the Information Technology Act if it is found to have failed in its due diligence. This notice expands the focus of global regulators from organic content moderation to the safety of paid advertising pipelines, where automated processes currently struggle to detect sophisticated criminal evasion. The outcome of this seven-day ultimatum will serve as a bellwether for how Meta manages liability in its most critical growth market while facing similar heat from the European Commission. Watch for whether India demands new auditable controls or stricter destination-URL verification for all video advertisers.

The Indian government’s notice follows a broader period of regulatory friction for Meta’s properties in the region. Per reports from NDTV and Business Standard in July 2026, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw previously directed officials to scrutinize WhatsApp’s new username feature, citing concerns that increased anonymity could facilitate cybercrime. These domestic pressures coincide with a significant preliminary finding by the European Commission in April 2026, which alleged that Meta breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) by failing to prevent children under 13 from accessing its platforms. The EU investigation noted that Instagram and Facebook allowed minors to bypass age restrictions using false birthdates without effective verification controls, a violation that could eventually result in fines reaching 6% of Meta's global annual turnover.

In response to mounting safety concerns, Meta introduced a revamped "Teen Accounts" framework in India in April 2026. Per the New Indian Express, this update automatically places users under 18 into restricted safety settings that require parental approval to change. While Meta maintains these measures improve proactive detection, independent researchers continue to highlight gaps in the platform's "Andromeda" algorithm, which handles most automated ad review. Recent analysis by media buyers in early 2026 indicates that while Meta has tightened system risk controls to prevent payment fraud, the same automated filters frequently fail to catch high-risk content in low-budget, high-volume ad campaigns until after they have been served to users.