Meta actioned 5.3 million child exploitation content pieces in India; new AI tools target online predators - Report

The latest measures come as social media platforms face growing pressure to strengthen safeguards for children and prevent online predators from exploiting advertising systems and other platform features to evade detection.

Meta has deployed new artificial intelligence tools and strengthened its advertising review systems to detect and disrupt child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram, as the company works to counter increasingly sophisticated tactics used by online predators, ANI reported.

The new measures are aimed at identifying advertisements that either contain child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or covertly direct users to violating activity hosted outside Meta's platforms.

5.3 million pieces of content actioned in India

According to Meta, it actioned 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content on Facebook and Instagram in India between January and June 2026.

More than 98 per cent of the content was identified and addressed proactively before it was reported by users, the company said.

Globally, Meta said it actioned 33.2 million pieces of such content during the same period, with more than 97 per cent detected proactively.

Predators increasingly using advertisements

Meta said online predators are increasingly turning to advertising to evade content moderation systems. Some advertisements may appear harmless while directing users towards illegal material hosted on external websites.

In response, the company said it has expanded investigations beyond individual pieces of reported content to identify related activity across its platforms. The measures include disabling accounts involved in such activity and blocking associated links to external websites.

Meta has also introduced large language model-based detection to identify what it describes as “signposting” in advertisements. The system is designed to detect cases where seemingly benign advertisements may be directing users towards illegal or harmful material.