3440 — the number of AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse reported in 2025, up from just 13 in 2024, a rise the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) described as a 26,000% annual increase.
IWF data on AI-generated child sexual abuse content
The IWF reported a sharp escalation in AI-manipulated material involving children in 2025. Alongside the 26,000% rise in AI-generated videos (3440 in 2025 versus 13 in 2024), the foundation recorded a 14% year-on-year increase in AI-generated images and videos overall in 2025, reaching 8,029 items. The IWF also reported that the severity of AI-created material is high: two-thirds (65%) of AI content was classed as Category A, the most severe classification, compared with 43% of non-AI criminal videos in 2025.
NCA public campaign on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has launched a public-awareness campaign aimed at parents, carers and others who share images and videos of children online. The campaign will run on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and is paired with new written guidance to help families find safer ways to share images so they “don’t fall into the hands of those with malicious intent.”
The guidance also includes resources on how to speak to children and young people about AI and deepfake nudes, reflecting the IWF’s recorded rise in AI-manipulated material.
School imagery attack and the risk of targeted exploitation
The IWF warned that threat actors are not merely opportunistic but also proactive. The foundation said criminal gangs had targeted a school in the UK, stealing imagery of pupils from a school website and using AI to create more than 100 sexual images of the children that were then used in attempted blackmail of the school. The foundation framed these incidents as “not hypothetical threats” but real harms with potentially lasting damage.
Advice urged by the NCA's Tim Wright and the IWF CEO Kerry Smith
The NCA and the IWF offered concrete behavioural guidance. The IWF’s CEO, Kerry Smith, said: “We don't want to say don't share your children's images with the people you love and trust, but we want everyone to be aware of the potential risks and make an informed decision with the full facts at their disposal. These are not hypothetical threats, they are real.” She added: “The impact of this imagery can be devastating. The harms are very real. And the potential for lasting damage is something which I think every parent would do anything they can to prevent. We want to give them back that power, and start a public conversation about whether we should be sharing imagery online as a default.”
NCA representative Tim Wright emphasised prevention and practical steps: “We encourage parents and carers to take a few simple steps today: review the privacy settings on social media accounts; think carefully about who can access images of their children; and talk openly with family, friends, schools and clubs about image sharing and consent,” he said. “Most importantly, if something does go wrong, stay calm, reassure your child that they are not to blame, and report concerns to the police or CEOP so action can be taken as quickly as possible.”
The official guidance asks parents and carers to reflect on image consent with a short checklist:
- Am I still comfortable with how my child's images might be used?
- Have my preferences changed?
- Do I want to limit or withdraw consent?
- It's ok to ask people not to post photos or videos of your child online
What this means for parents, schools and police/CEOP
- Parents and carers: Review privacy settings, reconsider the default of sharing imagery online, use the new written guidance and the social campaign materials on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to inform household conversations about consent and AI risk.
- Schools and clubs: Be aware that imagery published on official sites can be targeted; the IWF reported a case in which an institution’s publicly available images were stolen and used to create more than 100 sexual images for attempted blackmail, underlining a need to consider access controls for pupil photos.
- Police and CEOP: The NCA explicitly advised reporting concerns so law enforcement and CEOP can take action; Tim Wright framed reporting as a critical step if material is found or a child is harmed.
The headline numbers — thousands of AI-created items and a dramatic rise in the most severe categories — put a sharp point on the question Kerry Smith posed about default behaviour: should sharing imagery of children online be automatic? The NCA’s campaign and the IWF’s statistics together push that query into practice: review permissions, tighten access, and, when necessary, report. The agencies’ combined message is plain and urgent — these threats are real, and there are immediate steps families and institutions can take to reduce risk.
