Meta finds 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content on Facebook, Instagram in January-June 2026 – BusinessLine

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Meta said predators have shifted tactics to advertising, where an ad can look harmless on its own
Meta on Wednesday said it has put additional measures in place to combat child sexual exploitation on its platforms, and in India, it has actioned 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content on Facebook and Instagram between January and June 2026.
“Between January and June 2026, we actioned 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content on Facebook and Instagram in India, with over 98 per cent found and proactively addressed before anyone reported it,” the company said.
The Mark Zuckerberg-controlled company said it deployed additional measures, including new AI tools, to address the adversarial tactics.
“We identified and improved the efficacy of our systems for identifying ads that either feature CSAM (child sexual abuse material) or that direct people to violating activity off-platform,” it noted.
The disclosure comes amid a government crackdown on CSAM. In July, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) issued a notice to Meta over such ads on Instagram, ordering them to be disabled, and summoned its global executives to India.
Meta has since agreed to report child safety cases directly to the I4C cybercrime portal.
Globally, Meta actioned 33.2 million such items on the two platforms between January and June, with over 97 per cent found proactively. Meta said predators have shifted tactics to advertising, where an ad can look harmless on its own while leading people to illegal material hosted off its platforms, it informed.
Bad actors persistently try to exploit the systems, often with content designed specifically to evade detection. An ad can look harmless on its own while directing people towards illegal material hosted off its platforms in a covert way to avoid detection, it said.
“Once we understood the design of this malicious advertising scheme, we didn’t stop at the ones reported to us. We widened our investigation to find related activity across our platforms, disabled the violating accounts behind it, and blocked the off-platform links involved. We then deployed additional measures, including new AI tools, to address the adversarial tactics we identified and improve the efficacy of our systems for identifying ads that either feature CSAM or that direct people to violating activity off-platform,” the social media giant added.
Published on October 7, 2026
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