The number of AI-generated child sexual abuse videos identified in the UK soared from 13 in 2024 to 3,440 in 2025 – a jump so stark that the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have issued an urgent warning to parents: stop publicly posting images of your children.
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 figures, released alongside fresh guidance from the two organisations, underline what they call a growing threat of children's online images being used to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
“AI-generated child abuse imagery surged 14% in 2025, prompting NCA warning to parents against posting children's photos online.”
“While we and policing colleagues tackle offenders, prevention remains vital,” said Tim Wright, a senior manager at the NCA. The guidance, published in partnership with the IWF, urges parents to review privacy settings, create a “close friends” group for sharing images, and check their social media accounts for identifying details such as faces or school uniforms that could expose a child.
“AI is becoming a part of everyday life,” the guidance states. “Whilst it has many benefits, it can also 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 also calls for parents to revisit image consent with friends, family, schools and clubs, and to involve children in discussions about how and where their image is taken or shared – “especially in helping them feel more comfortable in saying no”.
The UK government has already moved to tackle the AI abuse threat, banning so-called “nudification” apps and tweaking laws to help AI firms ensure their systems cannot produce CSAM. But the NCA and IWF say the new guidance is designed to support parents in understanding the particular risks AI now poses.
“Hearing about this as a parent or carer can feel alarming, but you are not alone,” the guidance says. “It's important to know there are steps you can take, many of which you may already be doing, to help better protect your child.”