Meta uses AI to catch child abuse content on Instagram and Facebook in India

Meta is using artificial intelligence to find and remove child sexual abuse material on Facebook and Instagram in India. The company announced the change after facing criticism and legal inquiries from the Indian government. ## New Tech Meta is using large language model detection, ad transparency tools, AI sweeps of ads, a red-teaming AI agent to find weak spots, and systems to catch banned users who try to make new accounts. Earlier reports showed that illegal content had appeared inside ads on these social media platforms. ## Government Talks The Indian Union government and the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights held meetings with Meta over the issue. Meta also stated a few weeks ago that it would share reports of such material with Indian law enforcement authorities, alongside its usual reports to the United States-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. ## Action Taken Meta said in a press release that between January and June 2026, it actioned 5.3 million pieces of child sexual exploitation content across both platforms in India. The company added that over 98 percent of this content was found and stopped proactively before any user reported it.

Context

Social media companies face heavy pressure from governments worldwide to stop the spread of illegal material on their platforms. Automated tools like artificial intelligence and large language models are increasingly deployed to scan massive volumes of text, images, and ads faster than human moderators can.