NHRC Member Flags Meta-UNICEF Funding Ties Amid CSAM Scrutiny

Social media giant Meta has once again come under the radar of Indian authorities over alleged child sexual abuse material (CSAM) prevalent on Meta-owned platforms.

Now, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Priyank Kanoon has urged the women and child developement (WCD) ministry to look into the financial relationship between the social media giant and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Citing advocacy group Legal Rights Observatory, Kanoongo reportedly said that UNICEF is trying to offer its help to Indian authorities in the ongoing government probe into the child sexual abuse material (CSAM), sold as ads, on Meta platforms. 

Speaking with news agency PTI, Kanoongo flagged that Meta has given ‘millions of dollars” to UNICEF and continues to fund the organisation. He argued that this financial relationship could create a conflict of interest, particularly because UNICEF is engaged in child-protection work while Meta faces allegations involving exploitative content on its platforms.

In a letter written to WCD secretary Anil Malik, he called for a probe into the financial ties between Meta and UNICEF. Kanoongo also raised concerns that UNICEF could end up serving Meta’s interests rather than supporting child protection. He also urged the government to ensure that Meta is not allowed to use UNICEF as a “shield to evade accountability”.

“Therefore, there is a concern that this organisation, which is supposed to work on the issue of child sexual exploitation material while receiving funding from Meta, might end up serving Meta’s interests. The activist group has expressed apprehension that this organisation could potentially work in favour of Meta’s interests,” Kanoongo reportedly said.

The NHRC member said that he has already brought the matter to the attention of the WCD ministry, external affairs ministry, home affairs ministry and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre.

He also urged Indian authorities to keep the alleged conflict of interest in mind while conducting investigations and taking enforcement action. The concern, he claimed, was that allegations of vested interests being served through financial funding should not turn out to be true.

This comes a months after a BBC Eye documentary, aired in July, allegedly found that Instagram was running paid adverts promoting CSAM in India. As per Kanoongo, the NHRC has already identified about 100 such instances.

The aftermath saw the Centre pull up the social media giant and summon the company’s top leadership. The government also directed Meta to strengthen CSAM detection, increase human oversight of moderation and improve safeguards for content in Indian languages and local contexts.

Earlier reports suggested that government was considering waving off Meta’s “safe harbour” protection under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. This could have potentially forced the company to face greater legal liability in cases of CSAM or other illegal content being posted on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. 

Post this, the social media giant agreed to report instances of child sexual abuse to the local law enforcement agencies in September. Days later, Meta also said that it has introduced LLM-driven systems to identify “signposting” within ads to counter predators who advertise illicit material in ways that can evade automated detection. 

The social media juggernaut also claims to have deployed AI-driven sweeps to uncover missed CSAM material and integrated “red-teaming” AI agents to strengthen detection mechanisms.

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