UK agencies warn parents of ‘real’ AI threat as child sexual abuse imagery surges, urges parents to limit photo sharing

LONDON, July 4 — Parents have been warned over posting images of their children online as they could be used to create artificial intelligence (AI)-generated sexual abuse material, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has said, reported PA Media/dpa.

New guidance on protecting children against the rise of AI child abuse imagery has been issued by the NCA and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) as part of a new campaign aimed at parents and carers, the NCA said.

It comes after a United Kingdom (UK) school was targeted by criminal gangs who used publicly available pictures of pupils to create sexual images of the children using AI technology, then threatening to release the images unless a payment was made, according to the IWF.

The organisations have also raised the alarm over a sharp rise in the use of AI tools to create child sexual abuse imagery, with 3,440 AI-generated videos found by IWF analysts in 2025 compared to just 13 in 2024.

The new campaign aims to help parents and carers make informed decisions about their children’s images, consider image consent, and discuss the dangers of AI and “deepfake” sexual images with children, the NCA said.

“The threat is disturbing,” Kerry Smith, chief executive of the IWF, said.

“If someone’s imagery is online, they could be easy pickings for criminals and anyone, especially children, could find themselves being targeted.

“We don’t want to say don’t share your children’s images with the people you love and trust, but we want everyone to be aware of the potential risks and make an informed decision with the full facts at their disposal.

“These are not hypothetical threats, they are real,” Smith added.

“The impact of this imagery can be devastating.

“The harms are very real. And the potential for lasting damage is something which I think every parent would do anything they can to prevent.

“We want to give them back that power, and start a public conversation about whether we should be sharing imagery online as a default.”

Criminals who previously blackmailed a UK school created more than a hundred sexual images of its pupils using images from a school website, the IWF warned.

Though the IWF managed to stop the images from being uploaded, the fear remains that more schools could be targeted in the future.

AI-generated child sexual abuse images are becoming more widespread and realistic as technology improves, the IWF and NCA have also warned.

AI is also used to create more violent content, with 65 per cent of the 3,443 AI-generated child sexual abuse videos identified in 2025 classified as Category A — the most severe legal category under UK law, which encompasses offences such as rape and sexual torture.

By comparison, 43 per cent of non-AI criminal child abuse videos seen by the IWF in 2025 were Category A.

The IWF also identified 8,029 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse in 2025 — a 14 per cent increase in criminal AI content on the previous year.

The new guidance suggests creating a “close friends” group for parents and carers who still want to share images of their children online, or adjust privacy settings on social media posts so that only a selected number of people can see them.

It also contains advice on speaking to children and young people about AI and image consent, and what to do if they are targeted or imagery of them is made or shared online.

Parents have also been encouraged to inform children and young people that nude or semi-nude images of under-18s can be reported and removed online — including those created or altered using AI.

The Report Remove service, which is run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the IWF, also offers mental health support for young people.

Tim Wright from the National Crime Agency said: “Artificial intelligence tools are becoming more powerful, more widely available and easier to use, and we are seeing offenders exploit them to target children in new ways.

“Images shared online, even everyday family photos, can be stolen and manipulated to create sexualised content without a child or parent’s knowledge.

“While we and policing colleagues tackle offenders, prevention remains vital.

“We encourage parents and carers to take a few simple steps today: review the privacy settings on social media accounts; think carefully about who can access images of their children; and talk openly with family, friends, schools and clubs about image sharing and consent.

“Most importantly, if something does go wrong, stay calm, reassure your child that they are not to blame, and report concerns to the police or CEOP [Child Exploitation and Online Protection] so action can be taken as quickly as possible.”

Images and videos of child sexual abuse are illegal in the UK, whether they have been made or altered using AI or not.

The IWF has also urged tech companies to evaluate and safeguard their AI models before releasing them to make it harder for criminals to use generative AI to create child abuse material. — Bernama-PA Media/dpa