AI Lowers the Barrier to Creating Child Sexual Abuse Material

ASTANA, 10 FEBRUARY – On Safer Internet Day, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released a new analytical brief focusing on child protection in the era of rapidly advancing generative artificial intelligence. The document examines how modern technologies are transforming the digital environment and the new challenges they create for child well-being.

The analytical brief, ‘Artificial Intelligence and Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse’, notes that the availability of AI-powered tools significantly changes the digital-risk landscape. Whereas creating realistic content previously required complex equipment and expert knowledge, open-source models now allow fake and harmful images and videos to be generated on ordinary smartphones. Global data points to an alarming trend: more than one million children in several countries have already reported that their images have been manipulated, which can seriously harm a child’s reputation and psychological well-being.

The KazKidsOnline study found that children engage with the digital environment from an early age. According to these findings, nearly half of the country’s children first go online between the ages of 5 and 8. A significant proportion of children either do not report negative online experiences to anyone or share them only with peers, which may hinder constructive responses to the risks children face online.

UNICEF experts emphasize that even harmless photos children share on social media can, in the context of widely available generative technologies, be used to create unwanted content. Importantly, a child’s digital well-being depends not only on technical restrictions but also on open and trusting dialogue within families and schools.

Dr. Rashed Mustafa Sarwar, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan, noted: “The internet and digital technologies are, above all, opportunities for children’s learning and development. The digital world is evolving at an incredible pace, and with the emergence of artificial intelligence, the boundaries between reality and fiction are becoming increasingly blurred. We cannot stop progress, but we must make it safe for every child. This is the shared responsibility of parents, educators, the AI industry, and society as a whole – not only to set reasonable boundaries but also to stay close, build digital literacy, explain new risks, and create a trusting environment in which children are not afraid to seek help.”

UNICEF emphasizes that children’s digital well-being depends on a comprehensive set of measures. Understanding how modern technologies work will help adults better support children and foster a culture of safe online behavior, where innovation serves development rather than becoming a tool for exploitation.

The analytical brief and expert recommendations are available at the following link.