Internet Watch Foundation reports huge rise in AI child sexual abuse material

Abuse material monitor says number of AI images assessed this year is already 40% higher than last year’s total AI-generated child sexual abuse material is proliferating online, with the amount of illegal material investigated this year already exceeding the total for 2025.

Analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation have found more photorealistic child sexual abuse material in the first half of 2026 than for the whole of the prior year. The UK-based IWF,…