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Technology companies and child protection agencies will be granted authority to assess whether AI systems can generate child exploitation material under recently introduced British laws.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The announcement coincided with findings from a safety watchdog showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have more than doubled in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

Updated Regulatory Framework

Under the amendments, the government will allow designated AI developers and child protection groups to inspect AI models – the underlying systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and verify they have adequate safeguards to stop them from producing images of child exploitation.

"Ultimately about preventing abuse before it happens," stated the minister for AI and online safety, noting: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now detect the risk in AI systems early."

Tackling Regulatory Challenges

The amendments have been implemented because it is against the law to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI creators and others cannot create such content as part of a testing process. Until now, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before addressing it.

This legislation is designed to averting that problem by helping to stop the creation of those materials at their origin.

Legal Framework

The amendments are being introduced by the authorities as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a prohibition on owning, producing or sharing AI systems developed to generate exploitative content.

Practical Impact

This recently, the minister toured the London base of Childline and heard a simulated call to counsellors involving a report of AI-based exploitation. The interaction portrayed a teenager seeking help after facing extortion using a explicit deepfake of himself, constructed using AI.

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

Alarming Data

A prominent online safety organization reported that cases of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may contain multiple files – had more than doubled so far this year.

Instances of category A content – the most serious form of abuse – rose from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Girls were overwhelmingly victimized, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Portrayals of infants to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Reaction

The legislative amendment could "represent a crucial step to ensure AI tools are secure before they are released," stated the head of the internet monitoring organization.

"AI tools have enabled so survivors can be targeted repeatedly with just a few clicks, giving criminals the ability to make potentially limitless quantities of sophisticated, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she added. "Content which additionally exploits survivors' trauma, and renders young people, especially girls, less safe both online and offline."

Counseling Session Data

Childline also released details of counselling interactions where AI has been referenced. AI-related harms mentioned in the conversations include:

• Employing AI to rate weight, body and looks
• AI assistants dissuading young people from consulting trusted adults about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated material
• Digital extortion using AI-manipulated pictures

Between April and September this year, the helpline delivered 367 counselling sessions where AI, conversational AI and associated terms were discussed, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to mental health and wellness, encompassing utilizing chatbots for support and AI therapeutic apps.