Rapid rise in AI-generated child abuse content, warns watchdog

IWF chief executive Kerry Smith said: 'It is deeply concerning to see how quickly AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery continues to grow and spread online.' Stock picture

AI-generated child sexual abuse material is proliferating online, with the amount of illegal material investigated this year already exceeding the total for 2025.

Analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation have found more photorealistic child sexual abuse material in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of the prior year. 

The UK-based IWF, which monitors abuse material globally, said it had assessed 6,310 AI images that met the legal definition of child sexual abuse, 40% higher than last year’s total of more than 4,500.

Instances of AI-made child sexual abuse material have been rising for years, with a huge surge in videos in particular, although the latest IWF figures refer to still images only. 

The majority of the images seen by analysts were of girls, and of children aged seven to 13.

The IWF said the figures underlined the need for new statutory regulation on AI.

Hannah Swirsky, the head of policy at the IWF, said she backed calls from politicians for “binding legislation on AI” to compel companies to build safer models. 

“It is incumbent on tech companies to build tools which cannot be abused this way,” she said. 

"This problem has been created by technology, and if companies won’t build tools which are safe by design.” 

In Ireland, material depicting a child engaged in real or simulated sexual activity is illegal under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998, while the sharing of non-consensual intimate images is criminalised under Coco's Law.

AI has also enabled online predators to create explicit images of children. The Report Remove service, which blocks intimate images from appearing online, has received 420 reports from children concerning images of themselves that they believed had been faked or manipulated to appear explicit. The number has already exceeded its 2025 total of 397.

The use of AI tools to create abuse tools has led to the National Crime Agency and IWF encouraging parents and guardians to keep pictures of their children off social media. The guidance suggests making social media accounts private or sharing pictures of children through a “close friends” group only.

IWF chief executive Kerry Smith said: “It is deeply concerning to see how quickly AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery continues to grow and spread online. 

"If Europe is serious about protecting children, it needs a comprehensive child sexual abuse regulation that gives platforms the legal certainty to detect, prevent, and respond to known and unknown child sexual abuse content.

“At a time when technology is making it easier than ever to create and distribute abusive images and videos at scale, Europe cannot afford to delay. The EU has already shown its resolve by strengthening criminal laws to tackle AI child sexual abuse through the recent Child Sexual Abuse Directive. 

"The regulation is a real opportunity to further strengthen online protections for children and allow tech companies to use proportionate tools to tackle the spread of the evolving threat. Without it, efforts to prevent abuse are weakened and children are less safe online.”

Guardian