IWF Reports 6,310 AI CSAM Images in First Half of 2026
A half-year total passing a full prior year, with still images only and video already rising, is the baseline the IWF is using to argue that the UK's AI CSAM offenses and model-modification bans are not yet moving the numbers.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
The Internet Watch Foundation says its analysts confirmed 6,310 AI-generated still images matching the legal definition of CSAM in the first half of 2026. That is a 40% increase over the full 2025 total of more than 4,500. Most depicted girls aged 7 to 13. The IWF's Hannah Swarski supports a legally binding AI law, and Report Remove logged 420 faked-image reports, above all of 2025's 397.
The IWF's count covers still images only. The organization notes that AI-generated CSAM has been rising for several years and that video in particular has surged, so the 6,310 figure sits below the broader category it belongs to.
Its Head of Policy, Hannah Swarski, said she supports a legally binding AI law requiring companies to build safer models, and argued that technology created the problem because tools are not designed with safety built in from the start. In the UK, modifying an AI model to generate CSAM, distributing such a model, and developing one for that purpose are already illegal, the last carrying up to 5 years. The National Crime Agency and the IWF are asking parents not to post photos of their children on social media.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.