AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material Up 40% in First Half of 2026, IWF Reports
Published · curated by AI Is Going Just Great
Source: theguardian.com ↗
"It is incumbent on tech companies to build tools which cannot be abused this way. This problem has been created by technology."
The Internet Watch Foundation assessed 6,310 AI-generated images meeting the legal definition of child sexual abuse in the first half of 2026 alone — already 40% above the full-year 2025 total of roughly 4,500. The majority depicted girls aged seven to thirteen. The figures cover still images only; the IWF separately noted a "huge surge" in AI-generated videos.
The IWF is calling for binding legislation requiring companies to build models that cannot produce this material by design. The UK government has made it illegal to adapt or distribute models used to generate such imagery, with sentences of up to five years, but no new AI-focused bill is imminent. The Report Remove service, which blocks intimate images from appearing online, has already received 420 reports from children about images of themselves they believed were AI-faked — also exceeding its full 2025 total of 397.