Yvette Cooper says AI putting online child abuse ‘on steroids’ – ‘most vile of crimes’

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the threat from AI cannot be dismissed, warning that AI-generated images are leading to paedophiles carrying out vile abuse

Yvette Cooper has warned that AI is putting online child sex abuse “on steroids”.

The Home Secretary described use of the technology to target youngsters “the most vile of crimes”. Today the UK became the first country in the world to announce tough laws to crush the vile trade in AI-generated child sex abuse material.

She called on the rest of the world to follow Britain’s lead. Ms Cooper told Sky News’ Sir Trevor Phillips: “This is a real disturbing phenomenon that we’ve got where we’ve known for some time the online child sexual abuse material is growing, but also the grooming of child and teenagers online.

“And what’s now happening is that AI is putting this on steroids, and it is making it easier for perpetrators, for abusers to groom children. And it’s also meaning that they are manipulating images of children and then using them to blackmail young people into further abuse. It’s just the most vile of crimes.”

Alarming new figures from charity the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) show the number of AI-generated child sexual abuse image cases rose by 380% in 2024 compared to the previous year. These are fuelling a new wave of sex abuse against children.

New laws will outlaw AI tools designed to generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Those convicted face sentences of up to five years in jail – a world first.

Possession of AI ‘paedophile manuals’ – which outline how technology can be used to abuse youngsters – will carry terms of up to three years behind bars. And a new offence will be created targeting predators who run websites where paedophiles can share material and get advice.

Those convicted will be locked up for up to 10 years. On top of this, Border Force officers will be given new powers to unlock phones and scan them for sick content.

Ms Cooper said: “Very often they’re using images of real children and then abusing them, manipulating them and making them sexualised. These are being circulated and in these huge forums, and what the National Crime Agency (NCA) will say is this is drawing more perpetrators into more extreme and more sadistic abuse. And frankly, this is just dangerous.”

And she said that people should not dismiss the tools as “just AI”. Ms Cooper said: “I’m really worried that people saying, ‘oh well, it’s AI, we shouldn’t take it seriously’. Actually, the evidence says that what it’s doing is it’s actually escalating, accelerating the abuse.

“And that’s why the laws that we’re bringing in this is world leading other countries are not yet doing this, but I hope everyone else will follow.”

In an interview with Sunday Mirror, Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said: : “We are on a dangerous trajectory where the perpetration against children of sexual crimes has been growing.”

She added: “I’m stunned that there isn’t more attention on it. I think your readers would also be alarmed to hear that these things weren’t already illegal.”