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Tech firms and child protection organizations will receive authority to assess whether AI tools can produce child exploitation images under new UK legislation.

Substantial Increase in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The declaration came as revelations from a safety monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse material have more than doubled in the last twelve months, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Framework

Under the amendments, the government will allow approved AI developers and child safety organizations to examine AI systems – the foundational systems for conversational AI and visual AI tools – and verify they have adequate protective measures to stop them from producing depictions of child exploitation.

"Fundamentally about stopping exploitation before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now detect the danger in AI models promptly."

Tackling Regulatory Challenges

The changes have been implemented because it is illegal to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI creators and other parties cannot create such content as part of a testing process. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was published online before dealing with it.

This legislation is designed to preventing that issue by enabling to stop the production of those images at source.

Legal Structure

The changes are being added by the authorities as modifications to the crime and policing bill, which is also implementing a ban on owning, creating or distributing AI models designed to create exploitative content.

Real-World Consequences

This week, the minister toured the London base of Childline and heard a mock-up call to counsellors involving a report of AI-based exploitation. The call depicted a teenager requesting help after facing extortion using a explicit deepfake of themselves, constructed using AI.

"When I hear about children experiencing extortion online, it is a cause of intense anger in me and justified anger amongst parents," he said.

Concerning Data

A leading internet monitoring organization reported that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may contain numerous files – had more than doubled so far this year.

Instances of category A material – the gravest form of abuse – increased from 2,621 visual files to 3,086.

• Girls were overwhelmingly targeted, accounting for 94% of prohibited AI images in 2025
• Depictions of infants to toddlers rose from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The law change could "constitute a vital step to guarantee AI products are secure before they are released," stated the head of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be targeted all over again with just a few clicks, providing criminals the capability to make potentially endless quantities of sophisticated, lifelike exploitative content," she added. "Material which additionally exploits victims' trauma, and makes children, especially girls, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Support Interaction Data

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

• Using AI to evaluate weight, physique and looks
• Chatbots dissuading children from talking to safe guardians about abuse
• Being bullied online with AI-generated content
• Digital blackmail using AI-manipulated images

Between April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 support sessions where AI, chatbots and associated terms were mentioned, significantly more as many as in the equivalent timeframe last year.

Fifty percent of the mentions of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with mental health and wellness, including using AI assistants for support and AI therapy applications.