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Meta announced new artificial intelligence tools to detect ads and accounts that may be used to direct users to child sexual abuse material outside Facebook and Instagram. The company said it acted on 33.2 million items of this kind in the first half of 2026, and that its systems detected more than 97% of them before user reports.
Meta announced that the One Step Ahead anti-scam campaign, launched in cooperation with more than 25 government and security agencies and safety organizations, has reached more than 303 million people across 18 markets since May 2026. The campaign links local awareness with account-protection tools on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Meta rejected a report by the Instrat Foundation that estimated revenue from fraudulent advertisements on its platforms in Poland, saying its methodology conflates removed advertisements with fraudulent advertisements and relies on limited samples and assumptions. The company said it removed 137,000 fraudulent advertisements between July 2025 and June 2026 and intends to verify all financial-services advertisers targeting Poland.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation believes that Meta’s settlement over minors’ use of Instagram and Facebook could restrict young people’s ability to organize and participate in public life, while age-verification systems increase the risks of privacy violations and exclusion.