Latest news with #DerekRayHill
New York Times
10-07-2025
- New York Times
A.I.-Generated Images of Child Sexual Abuse Are Flooding the Internet
A new flood of child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is hitting a tipping point of realism, threatening to overwhelm the authorities. Over the past two years, new A.I. technologies have made it easier for criminals to create explicit images and videos of children. Now, researchers at organizations including the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are warning of a surge of new material this year that is nearly indistinguishable from actual abuse. New data released Thursday from the Internet Watch Foundation, a British nonprofit that investigates and collects reports of child sexual abuse imagery, identified 1,286 A.I.-generated videos of child sexual abuse so far this year globally, compared with just two in the first half of 2024. The videos have become smoother and more detailed, the organization's analysts said, because of improvements in the technology and collaboration among groups on hard-to-reach parts of the internet called the dark web to produce them. The rise of lifelike videos adds to an explosion of A.I.-produced child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. In the United States, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said it had received 485,000 reports of A.I.-generated CSAM, including stills and videos, in the first half of the year, compared with 67,000 for all of 2024. 'It's a canary in the coal mine,' said Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. The A.I.-generated content can contain images of real children alongside fake images, he said, adding, 'There is an absolute tsunami we are seeing.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Sun
28-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Online child sexual abuse is the next grooming crisis, warn ministers
ONLINE child sexual abuse could be 'the next grooming crisis', experts warn ministers. Children are being groomed and coerced online in 'astonishing numbers', according to the Internet Watch Foundation. 2 2 The charity runs the biggest hotline in Europe dedicated to finding and removing vile child sexual abuse material from the internet. Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO, said: 'We must not look back in years to come and say we did not know. 'The evidence is there. Children are being groomed and coerced online in astonishing numbers. 'The images and videos of their sexual abuse – orchestrated by offenders who are sometimes hundreds of miles away – are shared like trading cards by communities of online offenders. 'This will be the next grooming crisis unless we all act now, as a society, to protect children from the dangers.' It comes after a damning review laid bare the failings of the British state to stop the abuse of white girls by gangs of men of Pakistani origin. The audit by Baroness Louise Casey quotes one police expert saying, 'If Rotherham were to happen again today it would start online.' Mr Ray-Hill added: 'I worry that, even as we unpack this devastating scandal and its repercussions, another crisis is brewing.' Earlier this month Sir Keir Starmer performed a U-turn and ordered a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal. Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told the Sun on Sunday: 'Baroness Casey's rapid audit exposed the horrifying abuse grooming gangs are inflicting on girls and young women. Signs your child is secretly being groomed on the school run and what to do to help them 'We are accepting all the recommendations in the report, including on how sick perpetrators are increasingly grooming children online, and we will not hesitate to go further. 'We are alive to the latest online threats like the rise of 'self-generated' child sexual abuse imagery, which is highly disturbing, and we fully support the robust implementation of the Online Safety Act. 'We are also strengthening law enforcement's response, using cutting-edge technology, intelligence and investigators to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice.' The Government also recently introduced four new laws to crack down on online child sexual abuse.
The Sun
28-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Online child sexual abuse is the next grooming crisis, ministers warned
ONLINE child sexual abuse could be 'the next grooming crisis', experts warn ministers. Children are being groomed and coerced online in 'astonishing numbers', according to the Internet Watch Foundation. 3 3 The charity runs the biggest hotline in Europe dedicated to finding and removing vile child sexual abuse material from the internet. Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO, said: 'We must not look back in years to come and say we did not know. 'The evidence is there. Children are being groomed and coerced online in astonishing numbers. 'The images and videos of their sexual abuse – orchestrated by offenders who are sometimes hundreds of miles away – are shared like trading cards by communities of online offenders. 'This will be the next grooming crisis unless we all act now, as a society, to protect children from the dangers.' It comes after a damning review laid bare the failings of the British state to stop the abuse of white girls by gangs of men of Pakistani origin. The audit by Baroness Louise Casey quotes one police expert saying, 'If Rotherham were to happen again today it would start online.' Mr Ray-Hill added: 'I worry that, even as we unpack this devastating scandal and its repercussions, another crisis is brewing.' Earlier this month Sir Keir Starmer performed a U-turn and ordered a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal. Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told the Sun on Sunday: 'Baroness Casey's rapid audit exposed the horrifying abuse grooming gangs are inflicting on girls and young women. 3 'We are accepting all the recommendations in the report, including on how sick perpetrators are increasingly grooming children online, and we will not hesitate to go further. 'We are alive to the latest online threats like the rise of 'self-generated' child sexual abuse imagery, which is highly disturbing, and we fully support the robust implementation of the Online Safety Act. 'We are also strengthening law enforcement's response, using cutting-edge technology, intelligence and investigators to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice.' The Government also recently introduced four new laws to crack down on online child sexual abuse.
