Watchdog: 380 percent more AI-generated images of child sexual abuse

The 2024 data report published by the non-profit Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) on Wednesday reveals that the EU continues to be a major focus of the exchange and trade in images and videos of child sexual abuse. According to the report, the distribution of images created using artificial intelligence is on the rise.

In total, the IWF counted 181,112 sites on the web in the reporting year, compared to 140,911 in 2023. The content of more than half (62%) of the websites was hosted by hosting services in EU countries, compared to 51% in the previous year. The Netherlands is still the most frequently identified hosting location worldwide, even though its share of the global total has decreased since 2023.

The annual report also reveals that the IWF uncovered a record 291,273 cases of child sexual abuse or related contexts last year. In addition, 245 reports processed in the previous 2024 contained "actionable" images of child sexual abuse generated using artificial intelligence (AI). This is an increase of 380 percent compared to 2023.

Is the inhibition threshold dropping?

Experts view such AI-generated images with concern: according to them, AI can generate extremely realistic images on a large scale that are almost indistinguishable from real photos. This makes it difficult for investigators and moderators to identify actual cases of abuse and distinguish between generated and authentic material. The experts also fear that the consumption of such AI images could lead to perpetrators hardening their pedophilic tendencies and lower the inhibition threshold for real abuse.

The IWF explains its approach: If the institution detects online depictions of child sexual abuse, trained analysts trace the URL to determine the location of the physical server. The experts then do everything possible to remove it from the internet as quickly as possible with the help of partners, other hotlines and law enforcement agencies.

If the source disappears, this usually means that the recordings are also removed from all linked blogs, forums or hosting services that link to them. Some criminal providers deliberately move hosting from country to country to avoid this. The IWF is also pursuing them and trying to take them offline wherever they are located.

Dispute over chat control

For IWF interim head Derek Ray-Hill, the figures show "the urgent need for fundamental EU legislation to combat the harmful spread of child sexual abuse on the internet". They should serve as a wake-up call for the EU member states to adopt the highly controversial regulation on chat control after all.

After years of debate, the Polish Council leadership is backing voluntary measures, but not mandatory scanning. However, it has not yet found a majority for this proposal. Much will now depend on the new black-red federal government after the traffic light rejected chat control.

The current British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave the institution the powers to carry out its investigations in 2014 when he was Attorney General. Since then, the IWF has discovered significantly more material. The higher statistical values do not necessarily reflect an actual increase in production, but may also be based on improved detection.

(ds)