The order came from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Saturday evening, and it followed a BBC investigation that found paid ads on Instagram and Facebook linking users to illegal content on outside platforms, despite Meta's own rules banning that kind of material. MeitY gave Meta seven days to explain how the ads got approved in the first place. And the ministry didn't stop there, it also told the company to fix what it called algorithmic amplification, meaning the platform's own systems were apparently helping this stuff spread further than it should have. Officials warned that dragging their feet on fixing this could mean legal trouble under the IT Act and the POCSO Act.
Meta responded by saying it has already pulled the flagged ads and suspended the accounts behind them, along with blocking several linked web addresses.That response feels a bit rehearsed,the kind of statement companies keep on file for exactly this situation.The company said it leans on AI tools, automated systems and outside partners like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to catch this material before it spreads.
Telegram, which the BBC report says some of these ads pointed toward, claimed it removed over 2.74 lakh channels and groups tied to this kind of abuse during 2026 alone. This isn't the first run in between Meta and Indian regulators this month either, since the company met MeitY officials just days earlier over a separate dispute involving WhatsApp's new username feature.
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