The UK will enact the world's first law to crack down on the use, possession and distribution of 'AI tools that generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM)'

It has been revealed that the UK government is working on legislation to crack down on people who use AI tools to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While there are various laws around the world that regulate the creation and possession of CSAM, this is expected to be the first law in the world to target the 'creation of CSAM using AI tools.'

New AI child sexual abuse laws announced following IWF campaign

UK makes use of AI tools to create child abuse material a crime | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/uk-makes-use-ai-tools-create-child-abuse-material-crime-2025-02-01/

Makers of AI child abuse images to be jailed after UK introduces world-first law | News Politics | Metro News
https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/02/makers-ai-child-abuse-images-jailed-uk-introduces-world-first-law-22481459/

AI tools used for child sexual abuse images targeted in Home Office crackdown | Artificial intelligence (AI) | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/01/ai-tools-used-for-child-sexual-abuse-images-targeted-in-home-office-crackdown

UK readying new laws against AI-generated child sexual abuse material - Neowin
https://www.neowin.net/news/uk-readying-new-laws-against-ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-material/

On Sunday, February 2, 2025, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appeared on the BBC talk show ' Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg ' and announced that measures would be taken to prevent the creation of CSAM using AI.

Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP has announced first in the world measures to stop paedophiles using AI to create sexual images of children.

As technology advances rapidly, we're strengthening our response to track down and stop online predators. pic.twitter.com/9VPVLjVRfX

— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) February 2, 2025

According to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which works to protect children, the new law would prohibit the possession and distribution of AI models optimized for creating CSAM, as well as the possession of manuals that instruct criminals on how to use AI to create CSAM.

Although the UK has laws against child pornography, the IWF points out that these laws are inadequate because they make it easier for criminals to create unlimited amounts of real CSAM offline without being caught. According to the IWF, the amount of AI-generated CSAM found online has increased fourfold in one year.

'IWF has long called for stronger laws and we are pleased that the government has adopted our recommendations,' said Derek Reyhill, interim CEO of IWF. 'Children who have been sexually abused in the past are being victimized again and again by the commercialization of CSAM to train AI models. Any child could become a victim of this nightmare.'

Gregor Poynton MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Child Online Safety, also said: 'Protecting children must come first. The rise of AI-generated CSAM is deeply worrying as it threatens to increase child exploitation online. 'AI innovation offers many benefits, but it must not come at the expense of child safety. I am encouraged by the steps the Government has taken to respond to the growing threat and will continue to act decisively to ensure strong safeguards are put in place to prevent this technology being weaponised by those who wish to harm children.'