This week, I joined colleagues from across Parliament in writing to the Secretary of State to raise grave concerns about the use of generative AI to create illegal and deeply harmful content.
There is clear evidence that AI tools are being used to generate child sexual abuse material and non-consensual sexually explicit images, in direct contravention of UK law. This is wholly unacceptable.
The law is clear: creating, possessing or sharing sexualised images of children including so-called “pseudo-photographs” is a serious criminal offence. Platforms and regulators must act swiftly and decisively to prevent this content from being created and shared, and to remove it as soon as it appears.
While the Online Safety Act strengthened protections, there remain worrying gaps when it comes to how AI tools themselves are regulated. As generative AI becomes more widespread, those gaps are becoming increasingly untenable.
Protecting children and young people must always come first. I will continue to press the Government and regulators to ensure that platforms are held fully accountable and that our laws keep pace with technological change.
