WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 5, 2026 – Federal and child safety experts are issuing an urgent new warning to American parents: stop sharing images of your children on public social media accounts. The alert comes as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) report a staggering 14% year-over-year increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with over 8,000 realistic AI images and videos identified in 2025 alone.
The explosion of deepfake technology has turned innocent family photos into raw material for predators. In 2024, IWF analysts found just 13 AI-generated CSAM videos. By 2025, that number skyrocketed to 3,440—a 26,000% increase. "AI is becoming a part of everyday life," the joint guidance states. "While it has many benefits, it can also be misused—including by those who use it to make, manipulate, and share nude, semi-nude, or sexual images and videos of children." Tim Wright, a senior NCA manager, stressed that while law enforcement pursues offenders, "prevention remains vital."
The NCA and IWF have released new, actionable guidance for parents, urging them to treat every public photo as a potential target. The three-step framework includes: immediately reviewing privacy settings on all social apps to restrict posts to "close friends" only; auditing existing family accounts to remove identifying details like school uniforms, home backgrounds, or full faces; and re-consenting with friends, family, schools, and clubs about how children's images are taken and stored. "Hearing about this as a parent or carer can feel alarming, but you are not alone," the guidance emphasizes.
The U.S. government has taken steps to curb this threat, including banning so-called "nudification" apps and tightening laws to force AI developers to harden their systems against CSAM production. But experts say the responsibility also falls on parents. Child safety advocates recommend involving children in conversations about image consent, helping them feel empowered to say no. As AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated, the message from authorities is clear: a shared photo can become a permanent weapon. For American families, digital caution is no longer optional—it is survival.