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Technology companies and child protection organizations will receive authority to assess whether AI systems can produce child abuse images under new British legislation.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The declaration came as findings from a protection watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have increased dramatically in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Regulatory Structure

Under the amendments, the government will allow approved AI developers and child safety organizations to inspect AI systems – the underlying systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to prevent them from producing images of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about stopping exploitation before it occurs," declared Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Experts, under rigorous conditions, can now detect the danger in AI systems early."

Addressing Regulatory Challenges

The amendments have been implemented because it is against the law to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot create such content as part of a evaluation regime. Until now, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was published online before addressing it.

This law is aimed at preventing that problem by helping to stop the creation of those images at source.

Legislative Structure

The amendments are being introduced by the government as modifications to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a ban on possessing, producing or distributing AI systems developed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This week, the minister visited the London headquarters of Childline and heard a mock-up conversation to advisors featuring a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction depicted a adolescent requesting help after being blackmailed using a explicit deepfake of themselves, created using AI.

"When I learn about children facing blackmail online, it is a cause of extreme anger in me and rightful anger amongst parents," he said.

Concerning Statistics

A leading online safety foundation reported that instances of AI-generated abuse material – such as online pages that may contain numerous images – had significantly increased so far this year.

Cases of category A material – the most serious form of exploitation – rose from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

• Girls were predominantly targeted, making up 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Portrayals of infants to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The law change could "constitute a crucial step to ensure AI tools are safe before they are released," commented the head of the online safety organization.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be victimised repeatedly with just a few clicks, providing offenders the capability to make potentially limitless amounts of advanced, photorealistic exploitative content," she added. "Content which additionally exploits survivors' trauma, and makes children, especially female children, less safe on and off line."

Support Interaction Data

Childline also released information of support sessions where AI has been referenced. AI-related harms discussed in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to rate body size, body and appearance
• AI assistants discouraging young people from talking to trusted adults about harm
• Being bullied online with AI-generated material
• Digital extortion using AI-faked pictures

During April and September this year, the helpline conducted 367 support sessions where AI, chatbots and associated topics were mentioned, four times as many as in the same period last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with psychological wellbeing and wellbeing, including using chatbots for assistance and AI therapy apps.