Westpac was accused of failing to monitor $11 billion worth of suspicious transactions, including those to the Philippines suspected to be for child sexual exploitation. For decades, law enforcement agencies have worked with major tech companies to identify and remove this kind of material from the web, and to prosecute those who create or circulate it. But the advent of generative artificial intelligence and easy-to-access tools like the ones used in the Pennsylvania case present a vexing new challenge for such efforts.

They look to try and isolate a child from their support network and create a dependency so that they establish a sense of power and control over the child. This can often feel confusing for a young person as it may feel as if this person truly cares about them. The live-streaming nature of the material was particularly sickening, the institute’s report noted, because of the real-time element.

• Even if meant to be shared between other young people, it is illegal for anyone to possess, distribute, or manufacture sexual content involving anyone younger than 18.
• If you file with an authority which is not best suited to take the report, ask them specifically who you should contact to file.
• If you find what you believe to be sexual images of children on the internet, report this immediately to authorities by contacting Cybertipline.

Telangana crime briefs

The girl later revealed to staff that she had been posting “very sexualised, pornographic” images, says the school’s head of safeguarding, who also told us about a 12 year-old girl who said she had used the site to contact adult creators and asked to meet up. After setting up an account, creators must provide bank details to receive payment through OnlyFans. Head of the Communication and Information System Security Research (CISSReC), Pratama Persadha, stated that sexual crimes against children is not a new problem.

If you or someone you know is concerned about their internet activity, seek the help of professionals who specialize in this area. Unlike physical abuse which leaves visible scars, the digital nature of child sexual abuse material means victims are constantly re-traumatised every time their content is seen. Once inside, they can find vast criminals networks, including those peddling child sexual abuse material on a massive scale, Mistri adds. Up to 3,096 internet domains with child sexual abuse materials were blocked in 2024 amid Globe’s #MakeItSafePH campaign. Young people, including children and teenagers, may look for pictures or videos of their peers doing sexual things because they are curious, or want to know more about sex.

Laws about child pornography

The U.S. Department of Justice defines CSAM, or child pornography, as any sexually explicit images or videos involving a minor (children and teens under 18 years old). The legal definition of sexually explicit does not mean that an image or video has to depict a child or teen engaging in sex. A picture of a naked child may be considered illegal CSAM if it is sexually suggestive enough. Also, the age of consent for sexual behavior in each state does not matter; any sexually explicit image or video of a minor under 18 years old is illegal 2. Child sexual abuse material is a result of children being groomed, coerced, and exploited by their abusers, and is child porn a form of child sexual abuse.

‘Toxic cocktail of risks’

Perhaps the most important part of the Ashcroft decision for emerging issues around AI-generated child sexual abuse material was part of the statute that the Supreme Court did not strike down. That provision of the law prohibited “more common and lower tech means of creating virtual (child sexual abuse material), known as computer morphing,” which involves taking pictures of real minors and morphing them into sexually explicit depictions. Learning that someone you know has been viewing child sexual abuse material (child pornography) must have been very shocking, and it’s normal to feel angry, disgusted, scared, or confused – or all of these things at once. Even though this person is not putting their hands on a child, this is child sexual abuse and yes, it should be reported.

The report was produced after a search of 874 Telegram links reported to SaferNet by internet users as containing images of child sexual abuse and exploitation. SaferNet analyzed them and found that 149 of them were still active and had not been restricted by the platform. In addition, the NGO identified a further 66 links that had never been reported before and which also contained criminal content. A report drawn up by SaferNet, an NGO active in promoting human rights online since 2005, found that 1.25 million users of the messaging app Telegram are in group chats or channels that sell and share images of child sexual abuse and pornographic material. One of these communities alone—which was still active when the survey was made—had 200 thousand users. Analysts upload URLs of webpages containing AI-generated child sexual abuse images to a list which is shared with the tech industry so it can block the sites.