What parents and schools need to know about AI-generated child sexual abuse material — why it is illegal, how to report it safely, and how to protect children.
AI-Generated CSAM is sexual imagery of a child produced or altered using artificial intelligence, which is illegal to create, possess, or share under UK law whether or not a real child was photographed.
AI image tools can now generate realistic sexual images of children who do not exist, or place a real child's face onto sexual material. In UK law this is child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and is illegal to create, possess, or share, whether or not a real child was photographed. The Internet Watch Foundation has reported a sharp rise in AI-generated CSAM, and it is a major focus of the Online Safety Act's duties on platforms.
Offenders use image-generation apps, sometimes 'nudifying' tools, or models fine-tuned on abuse material to produce illegal imagery. A real child can be targeted when their ordinary photos — for example from a school website or a public social media account — are used to generate sexual images of them. This is why oversharing children's images publicly carries a risk, and why any request for a child's photos should be treated seriously.
In your child's behaviour
On their device
Set your child's social accounts to private
Switch your child's profiles to private and review who can see their photos. Publicly available, perfectly ordinary face photos are the raw material offenders and 'nudify' apps use — making them private is the single quickest thing you can do to reduce the risk.
Talk about photo requests and fakes
Tell your child that no one online should ask for photos of them, that it's always fine to say no and tell you, and that if anyone ever makes or shares a fake image of them it is not their fault and they must come straight to you. Naming it now makes it sayable later.
Save the reporting routes before you need them
Bookmark the Internet Watch Foundation and CEOP reporting links, and the Report Remove service. If you ever encounter this material, do not save, share, or screenshot it — report the web address to the IWF, who work internationally to have it removed.
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
This is practical educational content to support families. For case-specific concerns about a child's safety, contact the NSPCC helpline on 0808 800 5000 or your local safeguarding team.
+380%
the rise in actionable AI-generated child sexual abuse reports the IWF identified in 2024.
Internet Watch Foundation, 202465%
of the AI-generated child sexual abuse videos the IWF identified in 2025 were the most extreme category.
Internet Watch Foundation, 2025Myth: AI-generated abuse images aren't real, so they don't really harm anyone.
Fact: AI-generated child sexual abuse material is illegal in the UK and causes real harm — it can be built from a real child's ordinary photos, is used to bully and blackmail, and normalises abuse. A victim is never at fault.
Myth: This is a niche problem that won't affect ordinary families.
Fact: 'Nudify' apps and image generators have put this within reach of peers in schools, and the IWF has recorded steep year-on-year rises. It is increasingly a mainstream safeguarding issue, not a fringe one.
Keep their photos private, and teach the simple rule that no one online should ask for pictures of them — and that it's always fine to say no and tell you.
Explain, in age-appropriate terms, that images can be faked, and that if anyone ever makes or shares a fake picture of them it is not their fault and they must come straight to you.
Be explicit that 'nudify' apps exist, that making or sharing such an image of an under-18 is illegal even 'as a joke', and rehearse exactly how to report it.
Reinforce the law, consent, and the reporting and takedown routes — IWF, Report Remove, and StopNCII — both for themselves and for supporting a friend.
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