How many csam tips did Microsoft give to ncmac in 2024
Executive summary
Microsoft reported submitting 49,617 reports to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) during its 2024 Digital Safety Content reporting period, while also recording that it actioned 226,811 pieces of content flagged as apparent child sexual exploitation and abuse images (CSEAI) in the July–December 2024 window, with 99.82% of those detections coming from PhotoDNA and other proactive measures [1].
1. Microsoft’s headline number: 49,617 reports to NCMEC
Microsoft’s Digital Safety Content Report states that during the reporting period in 2024 the company “submitted 49,617 reports to NCMEC,” a figure the company presents as the count of discrete reports forwarded to NCMEC’s CyberTipline from Microsoft-hosted consumer services like OneDrive, Outlook, Skype, Xbox and Bing [1].
2. The context behind that number: content pieces vs. reports
Microsoft’s report distinguishes between individual files flagged and the formal reports sent to NCMEC: the company says it “actioned 226,811 pieces of content which were flagged as apparent CSEAI” during July–December 2024 and that those items were largely detected by PhotoDNA scanning and other proactive systems (99.82% of detections), yet the number of discrete “reports” submitted to NCMEC during the report period is smaller—49,617—because a single CyberTipline report can bundle multiple files and contextual data for investigators [1].
3. Why the totals can look mismatched and what that means for interpretation
The apparent gap between 226,811 flagged items and 49,617 reports illustrates how platforms aggregate files into CyberTipline submissions and how reporting periods or definitions can produce different public figures; Microsoft’s published numbers cover a specific reporting window (July–December 2024) and focus on Microsoft-hosted consumer services, which limits direct comparison to NCMEC’s full year totals or to other platforms’ methodologies [1]. NCMEC’s own CyberTipline statistics show dramatically larger system-wide volumes—such as millions of files and tens of millions of reports across all reporters in 2024—so Microsoft’s contribution should be read as one firm’s statutory reports within a much larger ecosystem [2].
4. Technical and policy context: PhotoDNA, donations and legislative dynamics
Microsoft emphasizes that nearly all of the proactive detections it reported were found using PhotoDNA and similar automated tools—technology it has continued to develop and, per a joint letter referenced by Microsoft, donated capabilities such as new PhotoDNA capabilities to support other initiatives in 2024—highlighting both industry technical contributions and the interdependence between private detection tools and NCMEC’s intake process [1] [3]. At the same time, congressional and sector discussions in 2024 noted the limits of voluntary industry action and debated statutory changes to reporting obligations and how platforms bundle or submit reports, signaling that numbers like Microsoft’s are shaped by evolving law, policy preferences and operational choices [4].
5. Caveats, alternative readings and limits of available reporting
Public company reporting and NCMEC’s CyberTipline data use different scopes, windows and aggregation rules, so while Microsoft’s report gives an authoritative figure for its own submissions in the stated period—49,617 reports—comparison across platforms or a definitive “share” of NCMEC workload requires matching definitions and full-year reconciliations that are not provided in the sources; Microsoft’s figure should therefore be treated as the company’s stated contribution during its reported period, not as a comprehensive accounting of all CSAM reporting to NCMEC in 2024 [1] [2].