Many concerns keep me worried as a parent, with AI and the fast pace of change being very high on that list—especially when considering their effects on kids. I doubt I’m the only one feeling this way.
This week, Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza will be addressing some important issues.
urged the authorities to implement a complete prohibition on “nudification” applications.
That uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create deeply fake pornographic images or videos involving minors.
Creating or sharing sexually explicit images of children is against the law. However, the technology that makes this possible is still lawful – and it continues to be so.
very
accessible.
Moreover, even though many nudity websites forbid the creation of deepfake sexual images involving minors, Internet Matters indicated that these safeguards can typically be bypassed with ease.
Given the increasing tendency observed recently, this may not come as much of a surprise.
misogyny in classrooms
and
online
, girls feel particularly vulnerable.
According to
Internet Matters,
Thirteen percent of children have encountered a nude deepfake, and nearly all such deepfakes—99%—feature women and girls.
Rachel de Souza’s
latest report
girls worry about nudity-creation technology in the same way they fear being sexually assaulted in public spaces. They also voiced concerns that deepfakes might be employed to pressure or extort them into performing actions they wouldn’t normally agree to.
One 16-year-old girl said: “It’s so easily accessible that anyone could just make those photos, put them on the internet and just like … create a big controversy just because they clicked a few buttons on a mobile app.”
So far, girls have been altering their behaviors in an attempt to avoid becoming targets. Several mentioned that they have decreased their online activity—a factor that the study noted did not concern the boys similarly.
Protecting kids from deepfakes
Rachel de Souza stated that although AI possesses “significant potential to improve our lives,” it also poses “disturbing risks to children’s safety on the internet” when misused.
“Children have shared with me that they are terrified just by the notion of this technology being accessible, not to mention actually using it,” she stated.
The commissioner said tools using deepfake technology to create naked images of children should not be legal and called on the government to take decisive action to ban them.
She aims to have measures established for eliminating sexually explicit deepfake imagery involving minors online.
A few methods for young individuals to attempt staying secure exist, and as parents, it’s essential we engage in these discussions with them and offer guidance, ensuring they aren’t facing this challenge solo.
Wellbeing experts at Brook
suggest that teenagers should maintain their social media accounts with privacy settings enabled and stay mindful of how much personal data they disclose online.
“Experts recommend promptly blocking and reporting individuals who share deepfake imagery or video content.”
The danger of nude deepfakes being employed to defraud young individuals (as well as their families) is quite significant; therefore, it’s essential to maintain an honest and unbiased conversation with your child, ensuring they understand that you’re always available for support regardless of the situation.
What can parents do if their child is impacted?
“The creation and circulation of deepfake nude images of children is deeply distressing and can have a devastating impact,” Emma Barrow, senior solicitor in the abuse claims team at
Bolt Burdon Kemp,
told HuffPost UK.
“While the technology used to create these images may currently be legal, the end result – a sexualised image of a minor – is not.”
Therefore, these events should be reported to the authorities.
“Producing, owning, or sharing explicit pictures of children is illegal according to the Protection of Children Act 1978, irrespective of whether the imagery is ‘actual’ or computer-generated,” stated Barrow.
The lawyer additionally recommended that parents seek out a professional who specializes in abuse law.
“Generating and disseminating deepfake nude pictures constitutes image-based abuse, and your child might be eligible for financial redress due to the damage inflicted by the production and distribution of these images,” she explained.
There are methods to get images deleted from various platforms and search engines through data protection laws and utilizing reporting tools provided by major platforms, as many of these platforms have guidelines prohibiting non-consensual imagery and sexually explicit material.
The specialist indicated that the problem underscores the “shortcomings of present regulations”.
“Even with the implementation of the Online Safety Act aimed at making the UK the safest country for internet use, it still doesn’t sufficiently tackle new risks such as artificial intelligence-created child sexual images,” she stated.
The law is finding it difficult to keep pace with technological advancements, and unless there is prompt reform—including prohibiting apps created for such purposes—children will remain vulnerable.