Artificial Intelligence

UK Advises Parents to Not Post Children Publicly Over AI Abuse Concerns

JUL 3·Updated JUL 4

Story

Above: In this photo illustration a 14-year-old boy looks at an iPhone screen displaying various social media and messaging apps in Bath, England, on March 29. Image credit: Anna Barclay/Getty Images

The Facts

The U.K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) issued guidance on Friday urging parents to avoid posting children's photos publicly online, recommending that families make social media accounts private or restrict sharing to "close friends" groups to reduce risks from AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Anadolu Agency
IWF
The IWF identified 8,029 AI-generated images and videos of realistic CSAM in 2025, a 14% increase on the previous year. AI-generated videos rose from 13 in 2024 to 3,440 in 2025, with 65% classified under the most severe legal category in the U.K.
Independent
National Crime Agency
Criminal gangs have targeted U.K. school websites, scraping pupils' photos and using AI to create more than 100 sexual images before attempting to blackmail schools. An advisory body including the NCA and IWF has since recommended schools remove identifiable images of pupils from their websites.
guardian
BBC News
The NCA and IWF guidance outlines three key steps for parents: reviewing social media privacy settings, checking who can access children's images and revisiting consent agreements with schools or clubs that may have been signed before recent advances in AI image manipulation.
guardian
Upday News
The IWF's chief technology officer, Dan Sexton, said he was uncomfortable advising parents against posting children's photos publicly but felt it was necessary, stating: "I would be very cautious [about putting pictures of children online] because there is no protection."
guardian
Independent
NCA child sexual abuse education manager Lorna Sinclair said most parents are unaware of the threat, noting that parents do not share photos "thinking that it might be scraped to be turned into CSAM." The U.K. government has moved to ban "nudification" apps in response, which can generate explicit imagery from ordinary photos.
guardian
BBC News

Sources Split

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ESTAB

The Spin

Pro-government narrative

Guidance to parents is not enough. Big Tech has the tools at their disposal to reverse the deluge of CSAM that AI has brought on, and is revising legislation to make sure that distributors, enablers, traffickers, and generators of this material are punished to the full extent of the law. Tech companies must also ensure their models are not used for these purposes. This new scourge needs an appropriate response.

GOV.UK

National Crime Agency

Government-critical narrative

AI-generated CSAM is abhorrent, but outrage can't be allowed to obliterate privacy rights in the U.K. The British response to this, including an invasive plan to scan all phones for CSAM, would make Britons and their children less safe, as bad actors have access to those same backdoors. Parents should be trusted to be prudent and share images wisely — the answer isn't another Big Brother intervention.