The Internet Watch Foundation and the UK’s National Crime Agency are urging parents to reconsider publicly sharing photographs of their children as AI tools make it easier to create realistic child sexual abuse material. Their new guidance recommends restricting who can view family images and removing posts that reveal identifying details.
The warning follows a sharp increase in AI-generated abuse imagery found online. IWF analysts confirmed 8,029 realistic AI-generated images and videos depicting child sexual abuse during 2025, 14% more than the previous year.
AI-generated abuse videos rose more sharply, from 13 in 2024 to 3,443 in 2025. Under UK law, realistic synthetic depictions of child sexual abuse are treated as illegal material.
Public Photos Can Be Manipulated With AI
Offenders can take ordinary photographs from social media and use AI systems to create nude, semi-nude or sexualised images. Pictures showing a child’s face, school uniform, location or other personal details may also expose information that could be used to identify or target them.
Tim Wright, a senior manager at the National Crime Agency, said prevention remains important while law enforcement agencies investigate offenders. The organisations said the risks are real, although parents do not need to stop sharing photographs privately with people they know and trust.
The official guidance for parents and carers recommends checking the privacy controls on social media accounts. Parents can make profiles private or use restricted groups, such as a close-friends list, when sharing family photographs.
Parents Advised to Review Existing Posts
Parents should examine photographs already posted by themselves, relatives, schools or clubs. Images may need to be removed when they clearly show a child’s face, uniform, location or another identifying detail.
The guidance also advises families to revisit consent arrangements with relatives and organisations that photograph children. Older children should be included in discussions about when and where their image is shared, and should understand that they can refuse.
IWF chief executive Kerry Smith said the organisations want families to make informed decisions rather than stop sharing images altogether. She warned that the misuse of everyday photographs is no longer a hypothetical threat.
The UK government has also introduced measures targeting AI systems designed to generate abuse imagery. A government child sexual abuse material factsheet outlines offences covering AI models optimised to create such content, while separate measures target nudification tools.
Featured image credits: Magnific.com
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