● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportHigh impact1 negative
UK children report surge in explicit deepfakes, exceeding previous year's totals
Key points
- 420 deepfake reports from UK children in first half of year.
- Figure exceeds previous year's total of 397 reports.
- AI tools make creating explicit deepfakes easier.
- Most manipulated images met CSAM threshold.
Rising Deepfake Reports Among UK Children
The Report Remove service in the UK has documented a rapid increase in explicit deepfake images reported by children. In the first six months of this year, 420 reports were received from children who believed images of themselves had been manipulated to appear explicit. This number has already surpassed the 2025 total of 397 reports.
AI Facilitates Image Manipulation
Dan Sexton, CTO of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which operates Report Remove, stated that these figures underscore the difficulty of preventing online image manipulation due to widely available and capable AI tools. He noted that AI image generators are being used to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM) featuring real children, a concern anticipated when these tools first emerged.
Legal and Safety Implications
The IWF reported that the majority of manipulated image reports made to Report Remove in 2025 and 2026 met the CSAM threshold. In the UK, AI-generated CSAM is illegal, and it is also illegal to adapt an AI model to create such material or distribute these models. Rani Govender, an online safety expert at the NSPCC, emphasized the need for tech companies to implement stronger safety protections in their AI products to prevent the creation of explicit content.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
The UK's Report Remove service has seen a significant increase in reports from children regarding explicit deepfake images of themselves, with 420 reports in the first six months of this year, surpassing the total for the previous year. This rise highlights the growing concern over the misuse of readily available AI tools for creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and the challenges in preventing such online manipulation.