UNICEF Urges Action to Protect Children from AI-Generated Sexual Content
Deepfakes – images, videos or audio generated or manipulated with artificial intelligence (AI) and designed to look real – are increasingly being used to produce sexualized content involving children. Ahead of Safer Internet Day, a call to action to counter the escalating threat.
'Deepfake abuse is still abuse'
UNICEF expressed increasing alarm over reports of a rapid rise in the volume of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated sexualized images of children in circulation, urging governments, AI developers and digital companies to take action to protect children from the abuse and its impacts.
Advice for parents and caregivers: Protecting children in the age of AI
New evidence confirms the scale of this fast-growing threat: At least 1.2 million children disclosed having had their images manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes in the past year, according to findings from a survey conducted in 11 countries as part of a broader ongoing Disrupting Harm study supported by UNICEF. In some countries, the rate was 1 in 25 children – the equivalent of one child per typical classroom.
The deepfakes include “nudification,” where AI tools are used to remove or alter clothing. “Deepfake abuse is abuse, and there is nothing fake about the harm it causes,” UNICEF said in a statement. The harm is real and urgent, UNICEF added, and "children cannot wait for the law to catch up.”
In a detailed issue brief released ahead of Safer Internet Day, UNICEF noted how much easier it has become for perpetrators to create sexual abuse content using open-source generative AI models running on consumer-grade hardware. Less than five years ago, the models were largely proprietary and required significant computer power and expertise to use.
Safer Internet Day — Feb. 10, 2026 — a reminder of the need for collective action to protect children in a digital world
Children have a right to protection from sexual abuse and exploitation — both online and off — under the Convention of the Rights of the Child, an international treaty that has been ratified by all but one country. The CRC underpins everything UNICEF does as part of its global mission.
UNICEF said that while it welcomed the efforts of AI developers who are already implementing safety-by-design approaches and guardrails to prevent misuse of their systems, the landscape remains uneven, with too many AI models lacking adequate safeguards. Risks can be compounded when generative AI tools are embedded directly into social media platforms where manipulated images spread rapidly, UNICEF warned.
To confront the escalating threat of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, UNICEF urges action by:
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ALL GOVERNMENTS to expand definitions of child sexual abuse material to include AI-generated content, and criminalize its creation, procurement, possession and distribution;
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AI DEVELOPERS to implement safety-by-design approaches and robust guardrails to prevent misuse of AI models; and
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DIGITAL COMPANIES to prevent the circulation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material – not merely remove it after the abuse has occurred — and to strengthen content moderation with investment in detection technologies, so such material can be removed immediately, not days after a report by a victim or their representative.
Perpetrators can create realistic sexual images of a child without their involvement or awareness, meaning that a child can now have their right to protection violated without ever sending a message or even knowing it has happened. Children then face the full weight of the consequences: shame, stigma, moral judgement from peers and adults, social isolation and long-term emotional harm.
Even when no ‘real’ child is directly involved, the individual and societal harm is real — by fueling demand for the content and by normalizing the sexualization of children. AI-generated sexualized content victimizes those whose likeness is being used. It can complicate law enforcement efforts to identify children who are in need of help.
“Urgent action is needed by governments and industry to prevent the creation and spread of AI-generated sexual content of children,” UNICEF stated. “Parents, educators, social services, mental health professionals and law enforcement need resources and continuous training to support impacted children.”
UNICEF provides detailed guidance to governments and businesses around ensuring child-centered AI systems* and policies. To access these resources, visit unicef.org.
Learn more about UNICEF's AI for Children project
* In Guidance on AI and Children 3.0, UNICEF defines an AI system as a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments. Different AI systems vary in their levels of autonomy and adaptiveness after deployment. In short: AI systems work by either following explicit rules, learning from examples (through supervised or unsupervised learning) or improving through trial and error (reinforcement learning).
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