Meta India scrutiny grows as Instagram becomes a political force
Instagram use surged during India’s Gen Z protests, raising Meta’s political profile and inviting new government pressure.
By Maya Okafor · Markets Writer
· 3 min read
Meta India scrutiny is rising after Instagram became a major venue for youth-led political protest in the world’s largest democracy. For everyday investors following Meta, the story is about more than user growth: India is a giant audience that could fuel long-term advertising gains, while also raising regulatory risk.
Recent Gen Z protests in India put Instagram at the center of political organizing and public debate, according to CNBC. The Cockroach Janta Party, described by CNBC as a viral, social media-led youth movement, used online platforms during demonstrations that pushed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to respond to protesters’ demands.
Instagram’s role became more visible when Modi posted his first selfie-style video on the platform on July 23 to reach younger Indians, CNBC reported. The video drew more than 300 million views in its first 24 hours and was nearing 400 million views later, according to CNBC and Instagram data cited in the report. Modi has since posted more videos and instructed ministers to increase their Instagram presence, CNBC reported.
Why is Meta under scrutiny in India?
Meta’s scale in India gives it unusual influence over how citizens, politicians and advertisers reach one another. That makes the company more valuable to political campaigns and brands, but it also puts its content rules, privacy practices, competition position and payments ambitions closer to government oversight.
Sensor Tower data cited by CNBC shows Meta’s reach across its major apps. So far this year in India, WhatsApp averaged 837 million daily active users, Instagram averaged 501 million and Facebook averaged 362 million, according to Sensor Tower. By comparison, Google’s YouTube averaged 646 million daily active users in India, while Elon Musk’s X averaged 15 million, CNBC reported.
Instagram activity also rose during the protest period. From July 18 through July 26, average daily active users on Instagram increased 16% from a year earlier to 531 million, according to Sensor Tower data cited by CNBC. During that span, Instagram’s daily active users rose 2.6%, while Facebook, YouTube and WhatsApp were largely unchanged, CNBC reported.
Indian regulators have already shown concern. CNBC reported that India’s government warned Instagram earlier this month to remove child abuse ads from the platform, after a separate warning to WhatsApp over its planned username feature. Local media also reported that India’s information technology ministry summoned Meta’s global policy executives over alleged non-compliance with the country’s Information Technology Rules and concerns about deepfakes on Instagram and Facebook.
The government was also upset after access to Modi’s selfie-style video was briefly restricted on Facebook, according to local reports cited by CNBC. India’s IT secretary criticized the move in an interview with news agency ANI, calling it “disturbing,” CNBC reported.
What does this mean for Meta’s India business?
More engagement can give Meta more ad inventory, which means more chances to sell targeted advertising. Analysts told CNBC that Instagram has been effective at attracting digital ad spending in India, even though the country does not yet contribute materially to Meta’s revenue because revenue per user is lower than in North America and Europe.
Rohit Kulkarni, managing director and senior analyst covering internet and capital markets at Roth Capital Partners, told CNBC that India is one of Meta’s largest long-term monetization opportunities. He said the market is more strategically important to Meta today than it is financially.
Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at Analysys Mason, told CNBC that Instagram content consumption had risen in recent weeks. He said wider use by political parties could increase adoption among older users and strengthen Meta’s position in India.
Neil Shah, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that Meta is ahead in India in social commerce, communication and ad targeting, while Google remains strong in web display and Android in-app advertising. Meta did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
