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Technology companies and child protection organizations will be granted authority to evaluate whether AI systems can produce child exploitation images under new UK legislation.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Content

The announcement coincided with findings from a protection monitoring body showing that reports of AI-generated CSAM have more than doubled in the last twelve months, growing from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Structure

Under the amendments, the authorities will permit approved AI developers and child protection organizations to examine AI models – the underlying technology for chatbots and visual AI tools – and ensure they have sufficient protective measures to prevent them from creating images of child sexual abuse.

"Ultimately about stopping exploitation before it occurs," stated Kanishka Narayan, noting: "Specialists, under strict conditions, can now identify the danger in AI systems promptly."

Tackling Regulatory Obstacles

The amendments have been introduced because it is illegal to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot generate such images as part of a evaluation regime. Previously, officials had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before dealing with it.

This law is designed to averting that problem by enabling to stop the creation of those images at their origin.

Legislative Structure

The changes are being added by the authorities as modifications to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a prohibition on owning, producing or distributing AI models developed to create exploitative content.

Real-World Consequences

This week, the official toured the London headquarters of Childline and heard a simulated conversation to counsellors involving a report of AI-based abuse. The interaction portrayed a teenager requesting help after facing extortion using a explicit AI-generated image of himself, constructed using AI.

"When I hear about young people experiencing extortion online, it is a cause of extreme anger in me and justified concern amongst families," he stated.

Concerning Statistics

A prominent online safety foundation reported that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as online pages that may include multiple files – had more than doubled so far this year.

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

• Female children were predominantly victimized, making up 94% of prohibited AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of newborns to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The law change could "constitute a vital step to ensure AI tools are safe before they are released," commented the chief executive of the internet monitoring organization.

"AI tools have enabled so victims can be victimised all over again with just a simple actions, providing offenders the ability to create possibly endless quantities of sophisticated, photorealistic child sexual abuse material," she continued. "Material which additionally exploits survivors' trauma, and makes young people, particularly girls, less safe both online and offline."

Support Interaction Data

The children's helpline also released information of counselling sessions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms mentioned in the sessions comprise:

• Employing AI to evaluate weight, body and looks
• AI assistants discouraging children from talking to safe adults about harm
• Being bullied online with AI-generated material
• Online extortion using AI-manipulated pictures

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

Fifty percent of the references of AI in the 2025 sessions were connected with mental health and wellbeing, including utilizing chatbots for support and AI therapeutic apps.