UK government targets AI in child abuse material with new laws
UK to criminalize AI websites facilitating child sexual abuse material
The UK government has announced four new laws, after the country faced the production of child sexual abuse images through artificial intelligence (AI).
According to The Home Office, UK will be the first country in the world to make it illegal to possess, create or distribute AI tools designed to create child sexual abuse material (CSAM), with a punishment of up to five years in prison.
While conversing with BBC, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, stated: "What we're seeing is that AI is now putting the online child abuse on steroids."
Cooper also added, AI was "industrialising the scale" of sexual abuse against children and said government measures "may have to go further."
Moreover, the country is also working to introduce more laws, making it an offence to run websites where paedophiles can share child sexual abuse content or provide advice on how to groom children.
On the other, The National Crime Agency (NCA) shared almost 800 people get arrested each month relating to threats posed to children online.
It said 840,000 adults are a threat to children nationwide - both online and offline - which makes up 1.6% of the adult population.
Cooper said: "You have perpetrators who are using AI to help them better groom or blackmail teenagers and children, distorting images and using those to draw young people into further abuse, just the most horrific things taking place and also becoming more sadistic."
She continued: "This is an area where the technology doesn't stand still and our response cannot stand still to keep children safe."
