The UK and US have united together to combat the rise of child sexual abuse images generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmes.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, alongside US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, has committed to exploring further joint action to tackle the alarming rise in despicable AI-generated images of children being sexually exploited by paedophiles.

The two countries have issued a joint statement pledging to work together to innovate and explore development of new solutions to fight the spread of this imagery and have called on other nations to join them.

“GenAI is already being extensively used for the production of CSAM material on the dark web – we are now starting to see those incidents appearing on the clear web. Most recently, a community in Spain had to respond after photographs of their children were used as the base for images, and we anticipate we will start to see this content crossing into the pure web more and more now,” Annabel Turner, founder of CyberSafe Scotland, a nonprofit which works to keep children safe online, said.

Investigations by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have found that AI-generated images of children being abused – including babies and toddlers – are growing, with some depicting the worst kind of offending under UK and US law.

The organisation has also uncovered an online ‘manual’ dedicated to helping offenders refine their prompts and train AI to return more realistic results.

The rise is concerning, with law enforcement agencies and charities convinced an increase in child sexual abuse material will fuel a normalisation of offending and lead to more children being targeted.

The surge in AI-generated images could also slow law enforcement agencies from tracking down and identifying victims of child sexual abuse, and detecting offenders and bringing them to justice.

In addition, some AI technologies provide offenders with the capability to create new pictures from benign imagery, through a process known as inpainting.

Currently, 800 predators a month are arrested by UK law enforcement agencies and up to 1,200 children are safeguarded from child sexual abuse following information provided by social media companies.

“Unfortunately, the worldwide consumption of child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) material is far, far higher than most people realise,” Turner added, her experience as a lawyer fighting for child victims abroad and her subsequent research informing her. “There is a huge industry behind the production of this material – and to give you context – on the dark web the producers of GenAI abuse, featuring children who were first abused many years ago, are now becoming cult figures and their names, logos and tags, as well as the names of the children involved, are widely known in that space. Those children (now adults) have had their names and addresses published and their personal security is compromised. They cannot get this material taken down without government support.

Controversally, Meta is set to introduce end-to-end encryption to private messages on its platforms, including Facebook Messenger. The UK government has called on the social media company to not introduce encryption unless there are “robust safety measures” to protect children, but tech experts says that these tools do not exist without infringing on people’s privacy.

If Meta proceeds with its plans, the government says it will no longer be able to detect child abuse on their platforms. The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates 92% of Facebook Messenger and 85% of Instagram Direct referrals could be lost – meaning thousands of criminals a year could go undetected.

The partnership between the UK and US follows after the passing of the controversial Online Safety Bill through Parliament last week.

AI-generated child sexual exploitation and abuse content is illegal, regardless of whether it depicts a real child or not. Under the government’s landmark bill, technology companies will be required to proactively identify content and remove it.

Recommended reading

• Online Safety Bill: Researchers Call for Social Media Data Access
• Controversial Online Safety Bill is Passed in UK Parliament
• BCS: Online Safety Bill Shouldn’t Rely on Tech for Child Protection

The bill is deliberately tech-neutral, the government claims, to ensure it keeps pace with emerging technologies like AI, and services will have a duty to stop the spread of illegal content such as child sexual abuse, terrorist material, and fraud.

Ofcom will have the power to direct companies to either use, or make best efforts to develop or source, technology to identify and remove CSEA content.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Child sexual abuse is a truly abhorrent crime and one of the challenges of our age. Its proliferation online does not respect borders and must be combatted across the globe.

“That is why we are working to tackle the sickening rise of AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery which incites paedophiles to commit more offences and also obstructs law enforcement from finding real victims online.

“It is therefore vital we work hand-in-glove with our close partners in the US to tackle it. I commend the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), who work tirelessly to keep children safe around the world. Social media companies must take responsibility and prioritise child safety on their platforms.”

Turner added: “This is horrific for all children involved – and it is so vital that Scotland takes a leading role in responding to this. There is something that we can all do to help in this space. There are amazing international projects happening that the tech community can get involved with e.g. the Jane Doe project. There are huge roles for those involved in the development of GenAI.”

For more information on how organisations and people can directly help the crisis, you can find more information here.