- UNICEF research estimates 1.2 million children had their images manipulated into sexual deepfakes last year across 11 surveyed nations.
- Regulators globally have launched probes and criminal investigations into AI platforms like X’s Grok for alleged illegal content generation.
- The agency is demanding governments criminalize AI-generated child sexual abuse material and enforce “safety-by-design” for developers.
UNICEF issued an urgent global call Wednesday, demanding governments criminalize AI-generated sexual abuse material, revealing research that shows 1.2 million children had their images manipulated into sexual deepfakes last year. The findings from the Disrupting Harm Phase 2 project led by UNICEF’s Office of Strategy and Evidence Innocenti indicate that, in some nations, this represented about one child in every classroom.
The research revealed how perpetrators can now create realistic sexual images of a child without their awareness or involvement. “Deepfake abuse is abuse, and there is nothing fake about the harm it causes,” UNICEF stated in a public statement and accompanying issue brief.
Consequently, the agency called for laws to be expanded to criminalize the creation and distribution of such AI-generated material. It also urged mandatory child-rights impact checks and safety-by-design rules for all AI developers.
Meanwhile, regulators are stepping up action, with French authorities raiding X’s Paris offices this week over alleged child pornography linked to Grok. This follows a Philippines-dict-bans-grok-0748″ target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow external noopener”>ban on Grok in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a European Commission probe.
The UK’s Internet Watch Foundation recently flagged nearly 14,000 suspected AI-generated images on a single dark-web forum. South Korean authorities reported a tenfold surge in AI-linked sexual offenses between 2022 and 2024.
“Children cannot wait for the law to catch up,” UNICEF warned, emphasizing the real and urgent harm. The organization’s call highlights a profound escalation of digital risks facing minors worldwide.
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