Instagram has been running paid advertisements promoting child sexual abuse material in India, according to a BBC Eye investigation.

The report says the ads used search-like terms including “rape video” and “child video,” and directed users to channels on Telegram where the material could be bought for as little as 99 rupees (around 80p). BBC says the ads appeared even though Instagram ads are supposed to be approved before they go live using its moderation systems.

BBC investigators created an alias account in India and observed that Instagram began serving increasingly sexualised advertisements, including ads featuring adult explicit content and, later, ads involving children in sexually suggestive situations. The BBC says it saw roughly 30 unique adverts promoting child sexual abuse, with some shared across multiple accounts, and about 20 ads featuring adult pornography.

After BBC reported one of the child sexual abuse ads to Instagram, the platform allegedly responded within 24 hours saying the ad did not violate its community guidelines. Later, when BBC asked Meta for comment, Meta said it had already disabled several ads and suspended accounts involved, removed additional ads, disabled more accounts, and blocked URLs linked to content that violated its policies.

The BBC says the investigation was also followed by action from the Indian government: hours after publication, officials said they had summoned representatives of Instagram’s parent company, Meta.

Telegram said it had removed more than 274,000 groups and channels related to child sexual abuse material in 2026. The BBC also reports that the material and adult pornography are criminal offences in India, and that Meta’s advertising policies prohibit adult nudity and content that sexually exploits or endangers children.