Parents urged to avoid posting 'unnecessary' photos of children due to AI misuse

MANILA, Philippines — The Council for the Welfare of Children has warned parents and guardians of the increased use of artificial intelligence to produce child-abusive material, cautioning them not to post unnecessary photos of minors online.

During the Safer Internet Day conference on Tuesday, Angelo Tapales, executive director of CWC, said that the organization is working closely with other government agencies and the private sector to curb the violence and sexual abuse against children, including new forms of abuse.

Children in the Philippines are highly vulnerable to being used to produce sexually abusive material, and the large number of incidents in recent years made UNICEF describe the country in 2016 as the “center of child sex abuse materials production.”

While there have been no reported cases of AI-generated child sexual abuse or exploitation materials (CSAEM) or child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in the Philippines as of Jan. 31, 2024, Tapales stressed the need for a more proactive approach.

The CWC official said that persons creating and proliferating inappropriate materials of children have become adept at using technology, calling them the “new species of violators who are very intelligent and techy.”

“They have the finances to buy softwares and hardwares to create AI-generated CSAEM. These might be people who don’t have the stomach to touch children, to take nude pictures of children, but out of greed, they have the technical knowledge to create these materials,” Tapales added.

Tapales noted that AI-generated materials targeting children have already been detected in other countries.

ChildFund Alliance Secretary General Meg Gardinier said that new forms of abuse, such as AI-generated imagery and financial sexual extortion, have become increasingly used “with dreadful consequences.”

Tapales said that the CWC is working on increasing awareness and responsible internet usage among parents and guardians to prevent children from being exploited.

“We must teach our parents, even those in the schools, the guidance counselors, the teachers, and school administrators, to be responsible Internet citizens, so that they can, in turn, teach students, teach their kids how to identify dubious sites, how to classify if a particular content is harmful, not age-appropriate, and not to chat with strangers,” Tapales said.

Among other practices, the CWC executive director said that parents must avoid the unnecessary sharing of children’s pictures online.

According to a report by the International Justice Mission (IJM), half a million Filipino children were trafficked online via live streaming in 2022. 

These activities often involved individuals known by the children who contribute to the production of sexual exploitation materials.

In 2023, the Philippine National Police recorded at least 17,600 cases of children suffering violence and abuse.