NCPCR summons Meta India managing director over abuse-linked ads

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has summoned Meta India managing director Arun Srinivas for a hearing on Wednesday, 9 September, and has opened a formal inquiry into advertisements on Instagram that a BBC Eye investigation said pointed users toward material exploiting children. Chairperson Valeti Premchand will sit at the commission's New Delhi office. Officials familiar with the file said a representative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to attend because the discussion will turn on how ads are targeted and reviewed.

NCPCR took suo motu note of the BBC report and issued a notice to Meta Platforms Inc. on 3 July. Meta sent a reply about a week later. After reading that reply the commission decided the answer was not enough and moved from a notice to an inquiry. Under the Code of Civil Procedure the commission can summon a person and compel attendance. Srinivas is being called in that capacity, as head of the India unit.

What the July report alleged

BBC Eye reported that Instagram showed advertisements using phrases that directed users to Telegram channels. The report said that when one such advertisement was flagged to Instagram, the first response was that the ad did not break community rules. That sequence is what NCPCR is now testing: how an ad of that kind is sold, how it is reviewed, and what happens when a user reports it.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had already called Meta India officials after the same reporting and asked for an explanation. The NCPCR file is separate. It sits under the commission's child-protection mandate rather than under the IT Rules alone. The two rooms may share facts. They do not share a single order.

Meta did not answer questions from Indian newsrooms on Tuesday about the summons. The company has previously said it removes violating content and works with authorities. The commission wants a person in a chair on Wednesday, not a statement.

Why the hearing is built around algorithms

People briefed on the agenda said the session will spend time on targeting and on the review queue. Those are the two places where an advertisement either dies or reaches a feed. If the commission finds that Meta's July letter skipped those steps, it can record that finding and ask for records. It can also recommend action to the government. It cannot, by itself, fine the company the way a sector regulator can.

The timing is tight. The notice went out in July. The reply came in days. The inquiry was declared on 8 September. The managing director is listed for 9 September. That pace suggests the commission does not want another paper exchange. It wants answers on the record from the person who runs Meta in India.

Instagram is one of the main ways Indian teenagers see advertisements. A child-rights body that can summon the country head is using the tool it has. Wednesday will show whether Meta sends Srinivas with logs and a timeline, or with the same letter the commission has already called inadequate.