Parents should not publicly post images of their children online due to the growth of AI-generated abuse imagery, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned – a stark message that comes as a BBC investigation found Instagram running paid adverts promoting child sexual abuse material in India.
Along with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the NCA said there is a growing threat of children's images online being used to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM). More than 8,000 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse were identified by the IWF in 2025 – a 14% increase on the year before. The IWF said its analysts had identified 13 AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse in 2024, but in 2025 this number had increased to 3,440.
“NCA warns parents against sharing children's images online as AI-generated child abuse images rise 14% in 2025.”
"While we and policing colleagues tackle offenders, prevention remains vital," said Tim Wright, a senior manager at the NCA. In partnership with the IWF, the organisation has released fresh guidance for parents outlining steps they can take to help keep their children safe online. It says parents should review their privacy settings or make a "close friends" group for those keen to share images. The guidance warns that AI "can be misused – including by those who use it to make, manipulate and share nude, semi-nude or sexual images and videos of children".
The advice comes hours after a BBC Eye investigation revealed that Instagram has been running paid adverts promoting CSAM in India. The ads used terms including "rape video" and "child video" and linked users to channels on the messaging app Telegram, where they could buy the material for as little as 99 rupees (about 80p). The BBC set up an alias account in India and within days was shown adverts featuring children with adults in sexually suggestive situations. In total, about 30 unique adverts promoting child sexual abuse appeared, alongside about 20 ads featuring adult pornography – both criminal offences in India.
After the investigation was published, the Indian government said it had summoned representatives of Instagram's parent company, Meta, over the adverts. Meta said it had already disabled several adverts and suspended the accounts posting them, and later removed additional ads and blocked URLs in response to the BBC's findings. Telegram said it had removed more than 274,000 groups and channels related to CSAM in 2026. But when the BBC reported one of the ads to Instagram, the platform responded 24 hours later saying the post did not violate its "community guidelines" – only acting after the BBC asked for comment.