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Tech firms and child safety organizations will be granted permission to evaluate whether AI systems can generate child exploitation material under new British legislation.

Significant Rise in AI-Generated Harmful Material

The announcement coincided with revelations from a safety monitoring body showing that cases of AI-generated CSAM have increased dramatically in the past year, rising from 199 in 2024 to 426 in 2025.

New Legal Structure

Under the changes, the government will permit designated AI developers and child protection organizations to examine AI models – the underlying technology for chatbots and image generators – and verify they have sufficient safeguards to prevent them from producing images of child sexual abuse.

"Fundamentally about preventing exploitation before it happens," declared Kanishka Narayan, adding: "Experts, under rigorous protocols, can now detect the risk in AI systems promptly."

Addressing Regulatory Challenges

The changes have been introduced because it is against the law to create and own CSAM, meaning that AI developers and others cannot create such content as part of a evaluation regime. Until now, authorities had to wait until AI-generated CSAM was uploaded online before addressing it.

This law is aimed at preventing that issue by enabling to halt the creation of those images at source.

Legislative Structure

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

Practical Consequences

This week, the official toured the London base of a children's helpline and listened to a mock-up conversation to counsellors featuring a account of AI-based exploitation. The call depicted a adolescent seeking help after facing extortion using a explicit AI-generated image of himself, created using AI.

"When I learn about young people facing blackmail online, it is a source of intense anger in me and rightful concern amongst parents," he stated.

Concerning Data

A prominent internet monitoring foundation stated that instances of AI-generated abuse content – such as webpages that may include numerous files – had more than doubled so far this year.

Cases of the most severe material – the most serious form of abuse – rose from 2,621 images or videos to 3,086.

• Female children were overwhelmingly victimized, accounting for 94% of illegal AI depictions in 2025
• Depictions of infants to two-year-olds increased from five in 2024 to 92 in 2025

Sector Response

The legislative amendment could "represent a crucial step to guarantee AI tools are safe before they are released," commented the chief executive of the internet monitoring foundation.

"AI tools have made it so victims can be targeted all over again with just a simple actions, giving criminals the capability to create possibly limitless quantities of sophisticated, photorealistic exploitative content," she added. "Content which further commodifies survivors' trauma, and makes young people, particularly female children, more vulnerable on and off line."

Counseling Session Data

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

• Employing AI to rate body size, physique and looks
• AI assistants dissuading young people from talking to safe guardians about harm
• Facing harassment online with AI-generated content
• Digital extortion using AI-manipulated images

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

Half of the references of AI in the 2025 interactions were related to mental health and wellbeing, encompassing utilizing AI assistants for assistance and AI therapy applications.