Explicit images involving children reportedly continue to appear on X despite Elon Musk‘s pledge to make the social media platform hostile to child sexual abuse material, according to a report by The New York Times.

Reviews conducted by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and The New York Times found that such material remained accessible on the platform, raising fresh concerns about efforts to protect children online.

Harmful material reportedly remains

The findings indicate that content involving the sexual exploitation of children has not been completely removed from X. The continued presence of such material highlights the difficulties social media platforms face in detecting and eliminating illegal content.

Child sexual abuse material is among the most serious forms of online harm, and its circulation can cause further trauma to victims while exposing other users to criminal content.

Questions over platform safeguards

Musk has previously pledged to rid X of child sexual abuse material. The findings reported by The New York Times, however, raise questions about how effectively the platform’s systems and enforcement measures are addressing the problem.

The issue also places renewed attention on the responsibility of major technology companies to ensure that their services are not used to distribute material involving the exploitation of children.

Protecting children online remains urgent

The persistence of such material underlines the importance of strong detection, reporting and removal mechanisms across social media platforms.

The findings serve as a reminder that tackling online child exploitation requires sustained action rather than one-time measures. Platforms, authorities and child-protection organisations all have a role in preventing harmful material from being created, shared or allowed to remain accessible.

The report does not suggest that every user or post on X is involved in such activity. Its findings instead focus attention on the continued presence of abusive material and the challenges involved in removing it.