A New Digital Threat

A new study conducted by Suzuki Law Offices has revealed a disturbing trend: artificial intelligence is fueling a surge in child sexual exploitation material (CSEM). While law enforcement has long battled online predators, the rise of generative AI has created a new frontier where explicit images of children can be fabricated at scale — often without any real-world victim initially involved, but with devastating consequences for child safety and digital trust.

 

The Scale of the Problem

The study highlights that reports of child sexual abuse material are already at record highs. In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received over 36 million reports of suspected CSEM, a 25% increase from 2022. Now, AI is accelerating the problem:

  • AI-generated CSEM reports have doubled year-over-year since 2022.

  • By mid-2025, AI-generated content accounted for nearly 10% of flagged material.

  • Some platforms report that up to 20% of new CSEM cases involve AI manipulation of existing images.

This means predators no longer need direct access to children to create exploitative content — they can fabricate it digitally, often using innocent photos scraped from social media.

 

How AI Is Misused

The study identifies several ways AI is being weaponized:

  • Deepfake technology: Innocent photos of children are altered into explicit images.

  • Generative image models: Text prompts can create realistic but fabricated child abuse material.

  • Image-to-image tools: Existing CSEM is “aged down” or manipulated to depict younger victims.

These tools are widely available, often free, and require little technical skill. The result is an explosion of synthetic exploitation material that is harder to trace and prosecute.

 

Legal and Enforcement Gaps

The study emphasizes that current laws are struggling to keep pace:

  • U.S. federal law criminalizes possession and distribution of CSEM, but statutes do not always explicitly cover AI-generated material.

  • Some courts have ruled that synthetic images still qualify as illegal if they are “indistinguishable from reality,” but enforcement is inconsistent.

  • Internationally, laws vary widely, creating safe havens for offenders in jurisdictions with weaker regulations.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations report backlogs of hundreds of thousands of flagged images, many of which are AI-generated.

 

The Psychological Toll

Even when no real child was initially involved, the study stresses that AI-generated CSEM still causes harm:

  • Victims whose innocent photos are manipulated into explicit content suffer trauma, harassment, and reputational damage.

  • The normalization of synthetic CSEM fuels demand for real-world abuse.

  • Survivors of past exploitation are retraumatized when their images are altered and recirculated.

 

Policy Recommendations

The Suzuki Law Offices study calls for urgent reforms:

  1. Explicitly criminalize AI-generated CSEM under federal and state law.

  2. Mandate AI detection tools for major platforms, requiring companies to scan uploads for synthetic abuse material.

  3. Increase funding for law enforcement, including AI-driven detection systems.

  4. International cooperation to close jurisdictional loopholes.

  5. Victim support programs for children whose images are misused.

 

Conclusion

The rise of AI-generated child exploitation content is not a distant threat — it is already here, growing rapidly, and overwhelming existing safeguards. The Suzuki Law Offices study makes clear that without immediate legal, technological, and cultural interventions, AI will continue to supercharge one of the darkest corners of the internet.