Parents in the UK have been warned against putting images of their children on public display online amid growing fears about AI child sexual abuse.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) issued an alert and guidance for parents and carers earlier this month to make them aware of the “growing threat” of images of children shared online being manipulated into AI-generated sexual abuse material.
The joint campaign is designed to help parents and carers “make informed decisions about their children’s images” and properly consider issues such as image consent and how they can safeguard their children.
Adverts running across all major social media channels will be backed up with new guidance for caregivers about stopping AI child sexual abuse imagery.
It comes after an increase in online offenders exploiting openly available images of children to create realistic abuse content including nude, semi-nude and sexual images and videos of children.
Over 8,000 AI child sexual abuse materials found
This content is Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and it is illegal under UK law. Despite this, analysis by the IWF found over 8,000 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse in 2025. This represents a 14% increase on 2024.
Despite using artificially created or manipulated images, AI child sexual abuse material causes real harm, contributing to the abuse and exploitation of children globally.
The new joint guidance aims to support families to find safe ways to share images of their children online without the risk of them falling into the hands of criminals who may exploit them to create AI-generated sexual abuse content.
Practical safety advice includes:
- Review your privacy settings: check your privacy controls under settings in all social media apps. You should be able to make your profile private and limit who can view your posts. The guidance suggests creating a ‘close friends’ group for sharing photos of your child online or limiting visibility so only selected people can view them. Internet Matters provides app and platform-specific guidance.
- Check your social media accounts: review the images and videos you have already shared and consider whether your child’s face, body or school uniform can be seen, whether you’re still comfortable with the post being available online and whether it can be deleted or made private. Review images of your child uploaded by friends or family and let them know if there’s anything you’re uncomfortable with. The guidance includes some helpful conversation starters to support parents and carers to set clear boundaries and expectations.
- Revisit image consent: reassess people and organisations you have previously given image consent to, such as friends, family, schools and sports clubs. Consider whether you’re still comfortable with the ways in which your child’s images may be used, whether your preferences have changed or whether you would like to limit or withdraw consent. The guidance reminds adults that it’s ok to say no to having your child’s image shared. As your child gets older it may be beneficial to involve them in these conversations and ensure they understand it’s ok to say no to their photo being taken or shared.
The guidance also includes how to report AI child sexual abuse, further support and resources available for parents and carers to access, and other frequently asked questions.
Schools must also be aware of AI child sexual abuse risks
The NCA and IWF also issued joint guidance to education professionals last year, to support them to protect student images from AI manipulation.
This advice outlined how online offenders may believe that creating AI-generated child sexual abuse material is less harmful because they are not in direct contact with a child, or even that it is a “victimless crime”. Others may do it because they believe they’re less like to be caught or to blackmail a child into sending them real indecent images or for financial gain where they threaten to release AI-generated images of a child unless payment is made.
In some cases, the creators of AI child sexual abuse content are under 18 themselves. Often, children and young people who use AI to generate such images may believe it is “just a joke”, while others may do this to bully, harm, harass or blackmail another child.
In all cases, the NCA and the IWF are clear that:
“The use of AI does not lessen the impact or harm caused to victims. The harm to victims is always significant, regardless of the method used to create the CSAM.”
The latest guidance comes after the IWF issued a warning about criminal gangs who had targeted a UK school.
The gang had used imagery of the school’s pupils from its website and used AI to generate more than 100 sexual images of the children. They then attempted to blackmail the school into paying them to prevent the images being published online. Luckily, the IWF was able to prevent the images from being uploaded, but there are fears that more schools could be targeted in the near future.
AI child sexual abuse material often more violent
The IWF is a UK-based organisation which works globally to remove and block child sexual abuse imagery from the internet.
They warn that AI-generated child sexual abuse images are becoming increasingly lifelike as the technology advances. Even when material is not photorealistic, however, and takes the form of cartoons, illustrations or animations, it is still illegal and harmful.
Of the more than 8,000 AI child sexual abuse materials identified online last year, 3,443 were videos. This represents a 260-fold increase on the 13 videos found in 2024.
Even more concerningly, almost two thirds (65%) of these videos were classified as Category A. This is the most severe legal category in the UK and incorporates serious offences such as rape, sexual torture and bestiality. In comparison, less than half (43%) of non-AI sexual abuse videos found by the IWF in 2025 were classified as Category A, showing that AI is increasingly being used to create more violent, graphic content.
Helping parents make ‘informed choices’ about their child’s images
Its Chief Executive, Kerry Smith, described the threat of AI child sexual abuse materials as “disturbing.”
She explains:
“If someone’s imagery is online, they could be easy pickings for criminals and anyone, especially children, could find themselves 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.
“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 parents 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.”
Preventing AI child sexual abuse material
Meanwhile, Tim Wright from the National Crime Agency said offenders were using AI tools to “target children in new ways.”
He added:
“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 so action can be taken as quickly as possible.”
It’s not just up to parents, though – the IWF is also calling on tech companies to evaluate and safeguard their AI models before releasing them to the public to make it harder for criminals to abuse AI image generators and create AI child sexual abuse imagery.
Safeguarding children from harm
First Response Training (FRT) is a leading national training provider delivering courses in subjects such as health and safety, first aid, fire safety, manual handling, food hygiene, mental health, health and social care, safeguarding and more.
They work with a large number of early years, schools and childcare providers, as well as colleges, youth groups and children’s services. Their courses include Safeguarding Children.
A trainer from FRT says:
“Safeguarding children means protecting them off and online and being aware of new and developing technologies and how children may be interacting with these, and how they intersect with issues of child safety and protection.
“It’s so important that we are mindful of the harms children and young people are exposed to when they use technology and that there are mechanisms in place to protect them, and to offer them help and support when they need it most. Children who are anxious about technology and things they have seen or experienced online need to feel they have a safe space where they can talk about their worries and experiences.
“It’s vital that anyone who works with children and young people is aware of their responsibility for safeguarding children and that they can recognise the signs that indicate a child may be experiencing abuse, including online grooming, harassment or sextortion, and know the correct action to take in response.”
For more information on the training that FRT can provide, please call them today on freephone 0800 310 2300 or send an e-mail to info@firstresponsetraining.com.