Exclusive: National Crime Agency and Safety Watchdog Issue Guidance Amid Rise in Explicit Material Online
Parents are being advised not to post photos of their children publicly online due to concerns over AI-generated sexual abuse material. This guidance has been issued by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) in response to the increasing use of AI technology by paedophiles and criminal networks to create explicit content.
The NCA and IWF recommend that parents and s set their social media accounts to private or share images of their children only with a "close friends" group. While they emphasize they are not dictating how parents should behave online, they stress the importance of awareness regarding the risks and ways to mitigate them.
Additionally, the guidance advises parents to audit their social media accounts for older photos that could be exploited by predators and to revisit photo consent agreements with schools, sports clubs, or other organizations, especially those signed before recent AI advances enabled sophisticated image manipulation.
"We encourage parents and carers to take a few simple steps today," said Tim Wright, a senior manager at the NCA.
The guidance outlines three key actions: reviewing privacy settings on social media accounts; assessing who can view images of their children; and engaging in open conversations about granting permission for others to publish images online.
The NCA highlighted that many parents and carers are unaware that new technology allows criminals to use publicly available tools to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) without needing to contact or groom victims directly.
"The average parent or carer does not post a picture of a child online thinking that it might be scraped to be turned into CSAM," said Lorna Sinclair, a child sexual abuse education manager at the NCA. "There are lots of parents and carers who do not know that this problem exists."
Statistics show a 14% increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse material found online last year. The IWF identified 8,029 AI-created images and videos of realistic CSAM in 2025.
The IWF, which monitors CSAM incidents and operates a reporting hotline, has received reports from under-18s who were blackmailed after their images were manipulated by AI to create nudified versions. Its confidential service, Report Remove, has also documented cases where fully clothed selfies were converted into extreme pornography using AI.
In one instance, a 15-year-old girl reported that a stranger produced a "really convincing" fake nude image using her face and bedroom, apparently sourced from her Instagram account.
The publication of this guidance coincides with cases where offenders scraped children’s images, used AI tools to convert them into CSAM, and then threatened to publish the results. The UK’s early warning working group (EWWG), which includes members from the NCA and IWF, has recommended that schools remove identifiable photos of pupils from their websites and social media platforms.
Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer, expressed discomfort about advising parents not to share pictures of their children publicly but acknowledged the lack of alternatives.
"I don’t know what else to say to parents," he said. "I would be very cautious [about putting pictures of children online] because there is no protection."
The NCA and IWF guidance states:
"If you’d like to share photos of your child online, we suggest creating a ‘close friends’ group or limiting visibility so only selected people can see them."
The children’s charity NSPCC also recommends caution when sharing images of children online.
Videos released alongside the guidance depict fictional scenarios of parents photographing their children in everyday settings, such as playing sports or waiting at school gates, while being reminded of the risks associated with sharing photos online. The NCA and IWF aim to empower parents and children to say “no” to sharing images if they feel uncomfortable.
The guidance on conducting a social media audit encourages users to review their accounts to determine whether their child’s face, body, or school uniform is visible, whether they remain comfortable with the images being online, and whether such images can be deleted or made private. It also advises checking if friends or family members have posted images of the child, including older posts, and discussing calmly what actions could be taken regarding those images.
Furthermore, the guidance recommends reviewing consent forms signed by parents at schools, nurseries, or clubs that permit use of their child’s image, and considering whether to withdraw such consent.
Tom Dyson, the IWF’s head of marketing, stated:
"If you want a photograph of your children to be taken off a website or social media, you are perfectly able to do that."
