In 2024, the Internet Watch Foundation identified 13 AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse. By 2025, that number had spiralled to 3,440. The same year, more than 8,000 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse were found online – a 14% increase on the year before. Now, in landmark guidance, the National Crime Agency and the IWF have told parents they should not publicly post images of their children.
The advice, released jointly by the NCA and the IWF, urges parents to make social media accounts private or share pictures only through a “close friends” group. It also recommends auditing old posts for identifying details such as a child’s face or school uniform, and revisiting consent forms signed with schools or clubs that may predate breakthroughs in AI image manipulation.
“NCA warns parents not to publicly share children's images as AI-generated child abuse material rises 14% in a year.”
“While we and policing colleagues tackle offenders, prevention remains vital,” said Tim Wright, a senior manager at the NCA. He added: “We encourage parents and carers to take a few simple steps today.”
The guidance warns that AI is becoming a part of everyday life but can be misused to make, manipulate and share nude, semi-nude or sexual images of children. Lorna Sinclair, a child sexual abuse education manager at the NCA, said most parents are unaware of the danger. “The average parent or carer does not post a picture of a child online thinking that it might be scraped to be turned into CSAM,” she said. “There are lots of parents and carers who do not know that this problem exists.”
The NCA and IWF stressed they were not telling parents how to behave, but wanted them to understand the threat. The three main actions in the guidance are: reviewing privacy settings on social media, checking who can see existing images, and having open discussions about consent for publishing images online.
The IWF said its analysts have been contacted by under-18s blackmailed after their images were nudified by AI. A confidential service, Report Remove, has also seen cases of manipulated images. In response, the government has banned so-called “nudification” apps and amended laws to help AI firms prevent their systems from generating child sexual abuse material.
“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.” Yet for most families, the question remains: how many images already shared are now beyond recall?