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. Many youth who look for this content do not realize that it is illegal for them to look at it, even if they are a minor themselves. Where multiple children were seen in the images and videos, we saw that Category C images accounted for nearly half. In these images the children are often displaying their genitals and are with another child who may or may not also be displaying themselves.

Sexual activity metadata: Multiple children, ‘Self-generated’ and 3-6-years-old

They might think they will get in trouble or be seen as complicit in the creation of the materials.6 Rethinking the terminology we use may reduce these barriers, helping children to realise that what happened to them is abuse and never their fault. A child can willingly participate in sexual behaviors with older kids or adults, and it is still sexual abuse. You might have heard someone say “they never said no” or “I thought they liked it” to explain why they behaved sexually with a child.

• The NSPCC says there is no accountability placed on senior managers, unlike the regulation of financial services where directors of companies can be criminally liable.
• One of these communities alone—which was still active when the survey was made—had 200 thousand users.
• The site requires applicants to pose next to an ID card and then submit a photograph holding it up to their face.

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. Even minors found distributing or possessing such images can and have faced legal consequences. AI-generated child sexual abuse images can be used to groom children, law enforcement officials say. And even if they aren’t physically abused, kids can be deeply impacted when their image is morphed to appear sexually explicit. The Justice Department says existing federal child porn laws clearly apply to such content, and recently brought what’s believed to be the first federal case involving purely AI-generated imagery — meaning the children depicted are not real but virtual. In another case, federal authorities in August arrested a U.S. soldier stationed in Alaska accused of running innocent pictures of real children he knew through an AI chatbot to make the images sexually explicit.

Data That Drives Change: IWF 2024 Annual Data & Insights Report

They may justify their behavior by saying they weren’t looking for the pictures, they just “stumbled across” them, etc. Of the 2,401 ‘self-generated’ images and videos of 3–6-year-olds that we hashed this year, 91% were of girls and most (62%) were assessed as Category C by our analysts. These images showed children in sexual poses, displaying their genitals to the camera.

Topic: child porn

There are specialized therapists who work with adults who are having sexual feelings towards children, or who have other questions or concerns about their sexual feelings, thoughts and/or behaviors. Missing children are increasingly being linked to OnlyFans videos, says the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), known as a global clearing house for reports of child sexual exploitation. While it is illegal to post or share explicit images of someone under the age of 18, Mr Bailey says the police are extremely reluctant to criminalise children for such offences. He says he is more concerned about the risks children are exposing themselves to by appearing on the site. Our Think Before You Share campaign aims to help young people understand the harm of sharing explicit images and videos of themselves, and others, and encourage parents and educators to start timely conversations with children and young people. Speaking to eNCA following the arrest of a Midrand couple accused of possessing and distributing at least 10 million child sexual abuse videos and images, Ephraim Tlhako from the Film and Publication Board said there is renewed concern about the crime.