Meta announced on Wednesday that it removed 33.2 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content from Facebook and Instagram during the first half of 2026. The company is also deploying new AI systems to identify advertisements and accounts that secretly route users to illegal material.
More than 97% of the content Meta acted upon was flagged by its automated systems before a user reported it. In India, the platform removed 5.3 million pieces of illegal content in the same period, with over 98% detected prior to user reports.
How the new tools work
The latest AI is designed to catch ads that appear harmless but send traffic to illegal sites outside Meta’s control. Meta has introduced a new large language model to detect what it calls “signposting”. This refers to advertisements that look normal but are suspected of directing users to illegal content or other harmful activity elsewhere online.
Bad actors have recently changed their methods to avoid detection. While the ads themselves may not contain illegal material, they act as a gateway to websites hosting child sexual abuse material. Because of this, Meta is now examining where an ad sends users, not just what the ad contains. The company can use this data to block websites or other destinations that break its rules and take action against the accounts behind them.
Meta is also running additional AI-driven scans to find child exploitation content that earlier systems may have missed. The company says it will continue adding new signals as it learns more about how these networks operate.
A new tool is a “red-teaming AI agent” that tests Meta’s own safety measures. It looks for weaknesses that bad actors could use to get around the company’s protections. Meta says this could help it find new methods of abuse before they become more common.
Additionally, the company is improving its systems for finding people who return to its platforms with new accounts after their previous accounts have been removed.
The new measures arrive as Meta continues to face pressure over the safety of children on its services. The company has faced lawsuits and criticism from lawmakers over the risks its social media services may pose to young users. In August, Meta reached an agreement to pay up to $18 billion to settle a child safety lawsuit involving 29 U.S. states, addressing concerns regarding the protection of children online.
Meta has introduced several child-safety features this year, including parental controls for Meta AI, pre-teen accounts on WhatsApp, and alerts for parents when children search Instagram for self-harm content.
In September, WhatsApp added more controls for parents. They can limit how teenagers use Channels, control who can see their status updates, and decide who can add their children to groups. Parents can also choose to receive notifications about certain group activity.
What it means
For users, the change means fewer ads will silently redirect traffic to illegal sites. The new system stops the ad itself from functioning as a bridge to harmful content. Parents can rely on updated controls in WhatsApp and Instagram to manage what their children see and who they interact with.
