IWF and NCA urge parents to protect children’s photos from AI misuse
Families are urged to strengthen privacy after IWF revealed rising AI child abuse threats.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) have launched new guidance urging parents and carers to better protect images of their children online, warning that criminals are increasingly using AI to turn publicly available photographs into child sexual abuse material.
The campaign responds to a sharp rise in AI-generated child sexual abuse material and aims to help families make more informed decisions about sharing children’s image online and obtaining their consent.
The guidance accompanies a public awareness campaign across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, encouraging families to review privacy settings, reconsider who can access children’s photographs and discuss image consent with young people.
Parents are encouraged to regularly review whether they are comfortable sharing images online, limit access through private groups where appropriate, and talk openly with their children about AI-generated imagery, deepfake nudes and online safety.
The campaign follows growing evidence that offenders are exploiting publicly accessible family and school photographs.
The IWF recently helped prevent the circulation of more than 100 AI-generated sexual images created from photographs taken from a UK school’s website after criminals attempted to blackmail the school. According to the organisations, even ordinary family photographs can now be manipulated into realistic abuse material without the knowledge of children or their parents.
The scale of the threat has grown significantly. The IWF identified 8,029 AI-generated child sexual abuse images and videos in 2025, a 14% increase on the previous year.
AI-generated videos increased from just 13 identified in 2024 to 3,443 in 2025, with nearly two-thirds classified as the UK’s most severe Category A abuse material.
The IWF argues that technology companies must strengthen safeguards around AI image generation tools before release, while continuing to support law enforcement efforts to combat online child exploitation.
Why does it matter?
Generative AI has made it significantly easier to create realistic child sexual abuse material from ordinary photographs, fundamentally changing the online child protection landscape. Images shared on social media, school websites or other public platforms can now be manipulated without a child’s knowledge, creating new risks for families and increasing the burden on law enforcement and child protection organisations.
The campaign also highlights that preventing AI-enabled abuse requires more than criminal enforcement. Stronger safeguards in AI image-generation tools, improved privacy practices, greater parental awareness and better digital literacy around image sharing and consent are all becoming essential components of online child safety.
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