UK Parents Told Not to Post Child Photos Publicly as AI Abuse Images Surge

Key Points

• The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have issued fresh guidance urging parents not to post identifiable photographs of their children publicly online.
• The advice recommends switching social media accounts to private, or using a “close friends” style setting so only trusted contacts can view images of children.
• Parents are also encouraged to audit old posts, revisit photo-consent forms signed at schools and clubs, and talk openly with children about sharing their images.
• The IWF recorded 8,029 AI-generated images and videos of realistic child sexual abuse material in 2025, a 14% rise year-on-year.
• Children have been blackmailed after ordinary photographs were manipulated using AI “nudifying” tools, according to the IWF’s Report Remove service and Childline.
• Several UK school websites have been targeted by blackmailers who scraped pupil photographs and threatened to publish AI-manipulated images unless paid.
• The Early Warning Working Group, which includes the NCA and IWF, has advised schools to remove identifiable pupil photographs from their websites and social media.
• The NSPCC separately recommends that under-18s keep their own social media accounts private.
• Officials stress the guidance is not about dictating how parents behave, but about raising awareness of a threat most are unaware exists.

United Kingdom (Britain Today News) July 03, 2026 — Parents across the United Kingdom are being advised against posting publicly visible photographs of their children online, as part of new guidance from the National Crime Agency and the Internet Watch Foundation designed to curb the growing use of artificial intelligence to manufacture child sexual abuse material.

The guidance, published jointly by the two organisations, recommends that parents and guardians switch their social media accounts to private or restrict image-sharing to a “close friends” style group, so that photographs of children are only visible to people they know and trust. Officials say the move reflects a sharp rise in AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM), much of which is produced by feeding ordinary, publicly available photographs into image-generation tools.

The NCA and IWF have been careful to frame the advice as guidance rather than instruction. Both organisations say they are not telling parents how to raise their children online, but want families to understand a threat that has emerged rapidly alongside advances in generative AI.

What Does the New Guidance Actually Recommend?

The guidance sets out three central actions for parents and carers. The first is reviewing privacy settings on all social media accounts used to share pictures of children. The second is checking who currently has access to images of a child, including followers added long ago who may no longer be known personally. The third is having an open conversation within the family about giving other people — including schools, sports clubs and relatives — permission to publish a child’s image online.

The advisory bodies also recommend that parents carry out a wider audit of their own accounts, searching out older photographs that could realistically be exploited by predators, given how far image-manipulation technology has advanced even in the past two or three years.

Why Are Officials Worried About Old Consent Forms?

A notable part of the guidance concerns consent agreements signed years ago — for instance forms permitting a school, nursery or sports club to publish a child’s photograph. Officials are urging parents to revisit these agreements, many of which were signed before the recent leap in AI image-manipulation capability, and to consider withdrawing consent where they are no longer comfortable with it.

The guidance encourages families to check whether a child’s face, body or school uniform is visible in any photograph that is still online, whether they are still comfortable with it remaining public, and whether it can be deleted or restricted to private viewing. It also asks parents to consider whether friends or relatives have separately uploaded images of their child, including older posts, and to discuss calmly what action might be taken if they want those images removed.

What Did NCA Officials Say About the Guidance?

A senior manager at the NCA, Tim Wright, said the agency wanted families to take some straightforward precautions without delay, framing the advice as a small number of practical steps rather than a wholesale change in behaviour.

Lorna Sinclair, a child sexual abuse education manager at the NCA, said most parents simply do not think about the risk when they post an everyday photograph. She noted that a great many parents and carers remain unaware the problem exists at all, pointing to a wider gap in public understanding of how AI tools can now be misused.

The NCA has said that most families would be unaware that criminals can now access publicly available AI tools capable of generating child sexual abuse material without needing to make direct contact with, or attempt to “groom”, a victim beforehand — a shift officials regard as one of the more troubling developments of the past two years.

How Much Has AI-Generated Abuse Material Increased?

According to IWF data, the amount of AI-generated child sexual abuse material identified online rose by 14% during 2025. The organisation, which runs a dedicated reporting hotline and monitors CSAM incidents across the internet, identified 8,029 AI-made images and videos depicting realistic child sexual abuse material over the course of the year.

The IWF’s Report Remove service — a confidential tool that helps under-18s get explicit images of themselves taken down — has documented cases in which entirely ordinary, fully clothed selfies were converted into extreme pornographic imagery using AI. Separately, the organisation said it had been contacted by children who were blackmailed by extortionists after their photographs were run through AI “nudifying” tools.

What Happened in the Case Heard by Childline?

One case handled by the Childline service involved a 15-year-old girl who reported that a stranger had produced what she described as a highly convincing fake nude image of her, using her own face and bedroom as source material. The image appeared to have been generated using photographs taken from her Instagram account.

Have Schools Been Targeted by Blackmailers Using AI Images?

Yes. The new guidance follows a number of cases in which UK school websites were targeted by blackmailers, who scraped photographs of pupils, ran them through AI tools to produce child sexual abuse material, and then threatened to publish the results unless payment was made.

In response, the Early Warning Working Group — an advisory body on tackling online harms whose members include the NCA and IWF — has recommended that schools remove identifiable photographs of pupils’ faces from their websites and social media channels altogether, rather than relying solely on consent processes.

Why Does the IWF Feel Uncomfortable With Its Own Advice?

Dan Sexton, the IWF’s chief technology officer, acknowledged there was something uneasy about telling parents to avoid posting pictures of their own children in public, but said officials felt they had little alternative given the scale of the risk. Sexton said he remains cautious about publicly shared images of children, pointing out that once such images are visible to anyone online, there is effectively no way to control how they might be used.

What Does the Official Guidance Document Say?

The published guidance states that families who wish to continue sharing photographs of their children online should consider creating a “close friends” group or otherwise limiting visibility, so that only people they have specifically chosen can see the images.

Are Charities Giving Similar Advice to Children Themselves?

Alongside the NCA and IWF guidance for parents, the children’s charity the NSPCC has separately recommended that under-18s keep their own social media accounts set to private, reflecting a broader push across the child protection sector to reduce the amount of identifiable imagery of children that is publicly accessible online.

What Practical Steps Are Included in the Social Media Audit?

The guidance’s recommended audit asks parents to work through their own accounts and consider several questions: whether a child’s face, body or school uniform is identifiable in any image; whether the parent is still comfortable with that image being public; and whether it can be deleted or made private. It also asks parents to check whether friends or family members have posted images of their child, including historic material, and to raise the matter “clearly and calmly” with those involved if they want action taken.

Officials also recommend reviewing any consent forms signed at school, nursery or clubs that gave permission for a child’s image to be used, and considering whether that consent should now be withdrawn in light of the new risks.
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What Support Materials Have Been Released Alongside the Guidance?

As part of the campaign, the NCA and IWF have released short videos depicting fictional, everyday scenarios — such as a parent photographing their child at a school gate or during a sports match — designed to prompt a pause for thought before an image is shared. The organisations say the aim is to normalise children and parents saying “no” to having a photograph posted online if either feels uncomfortable about it.

Can Parents Get Images of Their Children Removed From Websites?

The IWF’s head of marketing, Tom Dyson, confirmed that parents who want a photograph of their child taken down from a website or social media platform are entitled to request its removal, and encouraged families not to hesitate in doing so if they have concerns about an existing image.

What Should Parents Do Next?

Officials are directing families toward the full guidance published by the NCA and IWF, which sets out the three-step framework — reviewing privacy settings, checking who can see existing images, and having open conversations about consent — alongside the wider social media audit process. Both organisations say the intention is not to alarm parents, but to close a knowledge gap that has left many families unaware of how easily ordinary photographs can now be misused.

Anyone concerned that a child may have been targeted, or who discovers AI-manipulated imagery of a child online, can report it confidentially through the IWF’s Report Remove service or via Childline.