Meta has announced a series of new AI tools designed to combat the scourge of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms. In the first half of 2026, its systems detected and acted on 33.2 million pieces of CSAM on Facebook and Instagram, with over 97% identified before user reports. In India, the figure was 5.3 million, and over 98% was caught early.

The latest AI tools focus on 'signposting'—ads that may appear benign but are suspected of directing users to harmful content elsewhere. These ads, while not containing illegal material themselves, can act as a gateway to CSAM. Meta is now analysing where these ads lead, not just their content, to block illegal destinations and take down the accounts behind them.

To improve detection, Meta is also introducing additional AI-driven scans and a 'red-teaming AI agent' to identify vulnerabilities that bad actors could exploit. This could help the company anticipate new forms of abuse before they become widespread.

Despite these measures, Meta continues to face pressure from lawsuits and lawmakers over the safety of its platforms. Earlier this year, the company agreed 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 also rolled out several child-safety features, including parental controls for Meta AI, pre-teen accounts on WhatsApp, and alerts for parents when children search Instagram for self-harm content. WhatsApp has added controls for parents to limit teenagers' use of 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.