- The UK is introducing laws to ban AI tools that create, store, or share child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
- AI-generated CSAM is becoming a growing concern, with reports showing its increase on the open web
- The new law will also ban guides that teach people how to misuse AI for creating CSAM
As the AI Security is a lacking in the emerging tech world, U.K to ban AI tools because of misleading technology through AI.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology of the British Government, and the AI Security Institute, has published the inaugural International AI Safety Report 2025, as of February 18, 2025.
The report mentions a significant threat involving AI tools, which can now be employed to produce, store, and disseminate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The United Kingdom is the first country to proceed with legislating against AI-made CSAM.
CSAM is made up of audio, video, and photographs of children posed in sexually explicit ways. The threat of AI creating such content is increasing, as stated by a 2023 report of the World Economic Forum.This report identified that generative AI has the ability to generate images that appear realistic, particularly children.
Another organization, the Internet Watch Foundation, also stated in October 2024 that CSAM is increasingly being shared on the open web. This new issue is problematic, and some experts believe that countries like India need to update their laws to tackle these new challenges.
AI Security
The U.K. is currently drafting a law that will criminalize owning, producing, or distributing AI software that can create CSAM. It will also prohibit materials, commonly referred to as paedophile manuals, that instruct individuals on how to abuse AI to produce CSAM.
This bill defines a departure from the standard approach that focused mostly on punishing those who have illicit material. The new approach aims to prevent using technology that would have made it easier to create such harmful material. Specially for AI security.
As AI continues to advance, governments will need to do more to prevent it from being used for its misapplication. The U.K.’s approach can act as an example for other countries to follow, ensuring AI technology is used responsibly and not causing its serious misuse.
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