The United Kingdom (UK) will criminalise the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for the creation of child sexual abuse material, according to reports.
The announcement, which came from the government over the weekend, lays out various offences related to the use of AI tools and CSAM.
“We know that sick predators’ activities online often lead to them carrying out the most horrific abuse in person,” Interior minister Yvette Cooper said. “It is vital that we tackle child sexual abuse online as well as offline so we can better protect the public from new and emerging crimes.”
In England and Wales, creating, possessing, and distributing sexually explicit media of children are already a crime. The four new laws being introduced will tackle the abuse of real-life pictures of children, according to reports.
The Internet Watch Foundation — a nonprofit that works in the area of online child abuse — says that reports of malicious use of AI to create explicit images of minors increased almost fivefold in 2024.
The government says the legislation will also target individuals who are found running websites carrying CSAM. The agencies concerned will be authorised to investigate devices in this regard.
Offenders found in possession of “AI paedophile manuals” could be jailed for up to three years and those creating and distributing such media could be imprisoned for up to five years.
