UK parents warned over posting images of children amid AI sexual abuse fears
TL;DR
The UK National Crime Agency and Internet Watch Foundation are advising parents not to post children’s photos publicly, but to switch accounts private or use Close Friends-style sharing. The warning follows a rise in AI-generated child sexual abuse material: the IWF identified 8,029 realistic AI-CSAM images and videos in 2025, up 14 percent year over year.
Nauti's Take
The advice is uncomfortable, but realistic. Public photos of children are no longer just memories; they can become raw material for offenders, scrapers and image-manipulation tools.
That does not mean panic or total digital retreat. It means sharing privately, cleaning up old posts, checking consent, and no longer treating school or club photo permissions as automatic yeses.
Briefingshow
This changes the old model of online safety: risk no longer starts only when a child is contacted, but when usable images are publicly available. For parents, schools and clubs, photo consent becomes a safeguarding issue, not a harmless social media habit.
Sources