The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) assessed 6,310 AI generated images that met the legal definition of child sexual abuse between 1 January and 30 June 2026, 40% more than the 4,512 found across the whole of 2025.

Girls featured in 98% of images where age and gender were recorded, and images depicting children aged seven to 13 made up 79% of the total, up from 70% in 2025. The IWF also found images depicting infants and toddlers under two.

Category C images, as graded under UK law, made up 88% of AI images, compared with 62% in 2025.

The IWF says offenders can use AI tools to manipulate genuine images of victims, creating new material that can further traumatise survivors.

It is urging EU policymakers to agree the long-delayed Child Sexual Abuse Regulation, saying it must cover previously unseen content as well as known material, because hash matching can only block content that has already been identified.