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Tech firms and child protection agencies will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can produce child abuse material under recently introduced British legislation.

Substantial Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

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

Updated Legal Framework

Under the amendments, the government will permit designated AI developers and child protection organizations to inspect AI systems – the underlying systems for chatbots and image generators – and ensure they have adequate safeguards to prevent them from producing depictions of child exploitation.

"Fundamentally about stopping abuse before it happens," declared the minister for AI and online safety, adding: "Experts, under strict protocols, can now detect the danger in AI models early."

Addressing Legal Obstacles

The changes have been introduced because it is against the law to produce and possess CSAM, meaning that AI developers and other parties cannot generate such content as part of a evaluation process. Previously, officials had to delay action until AI-generated CSAM was published online before dealing with it.

This legislation is designed to preventing that problem by enabling to halt the creation of those images at their origin.

Legal Structure

The amendments are being added by the government as modifications to the criminal justice legislation, which is also implementing a prohibition on possessing, creating or distributing AI systems designed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Practical Impact

This recently, the official toured the London base of a children's helpline and listened to a mock-up conversation to advisors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The interaction depicted a adolescent seeking help after facing extortion using a sexualised deepfake of himself, constructed using AI.

"When I learn about children facing extortion online, it is a source of intense anger in me and rightful concern amongst families," he stated.

Alarming Statistics

A leading internet monitoring organization stated that cases of AI-generated exploitation material – such as online pages that may contain numerous files – had significantly increased so far this year.

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

• Female children were overwhelmingly targeted, accounting for 94% of illegal AI images in 2025
• Depictions of infants to toddlers increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The legislative amendment could "constitute a vital step to ensure AI products are safe before they are launched," stated the chief executive of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have made it so survivors can be victimised all over again with just a few clicks, providing offenders the capability to create potentially limitless amounts of sophisticated, lifelike child sexual abuse material," she added. "Material which additionally commodifies victims' trauma, and renders children, particularly female children, more vulnerable both online and offline."

Counseling Interaction Information

Childline also released details of support interactions where AI has been mentioned. AI-related harms mentioned in the sessions comprise:

• Using AI to rate body size, body and appearance
• Chatbots discouraging young people from talking to safe adults about abuse
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated material
• Online blackmail using AI-manipulated images

During April and September this year, Childline conducted 367 counselling sessions where AI, conversational AI and related terms were mentioned, four times as many as in the same period last year.

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