Interpol coordinates global operation resulting in 300 arrests for online child sexual exploitation

Interpol disclosed on 12 September 2024 that Operation Libertad, a month-long coordinated enforcement action spanning 45 countries, resulted in 297 arrests and the safeguarding of over 1,000 child victims linked to online sexual exploitation and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material. Investigators reported that offenders increasingly rely on encrypted messaging applications and decentralised file-sharing networks to evade detection, complicating traditional law-enforcement methods that depend on retrospective analysis of reported content.

Detection that operates at the moment of contact—identifying an adult soliciting images from a minor, or the exchange of illegal material in a private conversation—creates an intervention opportunity before abuse is consolidated or distributed. Guardii's anti-CSAM and anti-grooming modules analyse direct-message exchanges in real time across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other platforms, flagging predatory solicitation and image-based harm as the conversation unfolds and enabling rapid escalation to the appropriate authority, without requiring investigators to wait for a user report or forensic recovery of encrypted content after the fact.