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Earlier Telegram removed more than 274,000 groups and channels linked to child sexual abuse material in 2026. When will Meta and Grok follow suit?

By Mashable News Staff July 3, 2026

A BBC Eye investigation has found that Instagram carried paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in India. The ads linked users to Telegram channels selling the content for small amounts of money.

What The Investigation Found

The BBC set up a test account in India. Within days, the account was shown ads featuring adult pornography. Soon after, it was shown ads promoting child sexual abuse material. In total, around 30 unique ads of this kind appeared.

The BBC reported one ad to Instagram. A day later, Instagram said the ad did not break its rules. Meta later told the BBC it had removed several ads and suspended the accounts behind them.

Meta & Telegram's Response

Meta remarked that child exploitation is a serious crime and that it works to fight it. The company stated its review systems are not perfect. It said it uses automated tools to check ads before they go live and further tools to catch violations afterward.

Meanwhile, Telegram told the BBC it had removed more than 274,000 groups and channels linked to child sexual abuse material in 2026.

Government Summons Meta

The Indian government has decided to summon Meta officials over the findings. Sources said Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to call in the company. The ministry will ask Meta to explain the advertisements.

Earlier Findings

A Pulitzer Center report from April 2025 raised similar concerns. It found that at least a dozen Instagram accounts, with hundreds of thousands of followers combined, were sharing AI-generated sexualized images of children. The report said Meta's safety systems failed to detect this content. It followed Meta's decision in January 2025 to ease some of its content moderation rules.