Meta has described child exploitation as a horrific crime, asserting that it works aggressively every day to combat such abuse on and off its platforms. The statement comes days after the Indian government issued a notice to the social media giant over reports of Instagram advertisements promoting child sexual exploitative and abuse material (CSEAM).
Meta's Detailed Response on Enforcement
In a detailed blog published on Tuesday, Meta outlined its efforts to combat child sexual abuse material across its apps, citing AI-powered detection, ad review systems, and large-scale enforcement actions. The company emphasised that it never wants such content on its platforms and is committed to improving its efforts to combat it.
Meta stated that it was categorically inaccurate to suggest that it knowingly and deliberately targets ads featuring children to people based on an inappropriate interest. Instead, the company uses technology to identify accounts that have shown potentially suspicious activity related to children, automatically removing over 4 million such accounts globally last year.
AI-Powered Detection and Removal Numbers
Meta highlighted that it has strengthened AI-powered enforcement against child exploitation, with newer systems covering languages spoken by 98 per cent of people online. Last year, the company automatically removed over 4 million suspicious accounts and 36 million pieces of child exploitation content globally. In India alone, AI tools helped remove 1,60,000 accounts in the past six months for posting suspicious links linked to exploitative activity.
The company further noted that before the cases were brought to its attention, its enforcement systems had already identified and disabled several of the violating ads and the accounts behind them. Subsequent investigation led to additional action, including removing further ads, disabling accounts, and blocking URLs linked to policy-violating content.
Government Notice and Response Status
Government sources told PTI that Meta's official response to Saturday's notice is awaited. The government's focus will be on the corrective measures and action taken by the company to address all the concerns. Last week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered Instagram to disable all ads and content promoting and facilitating access to CSEAM, demanding a detailed explanation within seven days.
Meta owns popular social media platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company reiterated its commitment to fighting child exploitation, stating that it has advanced AI detection tools set up to identify when individuals post suspicious off-platform links in coordination with other signals indicating child exploitative activity.
