Meta on Wednesday said it has deployed new AI tools to check ads that covertly lead users to child abuse material, as it disclosed that it acted on 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content in India in the first half of 2026.
More than 98 per cent of the content on Facebook and Instagram in India was found and addressed before anyone reported it, the company said in a blog post.
Globally, it 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.
After identifying the scheme, it widened its investigation beyond the ads reported to it, disabled the accounts behind them and blocked the off-platform links involved, according to the company.
The new measures include a large language model system to detect “signposting”, meaning ad content that appears benign but is strongly suspected of directing people to illegal content.
Meta said it has also improved how it assesses where an ad leads, not only what it shows, and added AI-driven sweeps to surface material that earlier systems missed. It is also using a red-teaming AI agent that probes its own defences for weaknesses, and has strengthened detection of banned users who create new accounts.
“Keeping young people safe on our apps is among the most important work we do, and it never stops,” Meta said.
The disclosure comes amid a government crackdown on child sexual abuse material.
In July, the IT ministry 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.
