NSPCC advice on AI safety tips for parents after Mumsnet flooded with child sexual abuse images
A popular parenting website has suspended the ability to post photos on its page after it was flooded with child sexual abuse images.
Mumsnet has temporarily disabled photo sharing and is working on implementing AI filters to prevent illegal and disturbing images from appearing following allegations that users uploaded images depicting child sexual abuse.
The company's founder and CEO, Justine Roberts, revealed to PA news agency this week that five images were posted via two separate user accounts. The majority of the images were swiftly removed, with all deleted by 4am.
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READ MORE: Mumsnet halts picture sharing after child sexual abuse images posted on site
Explaining the action taken, Roberts said: "As a temporary measure, we have suspended the ability to post images on site and we are working on implementing AI filters to flag illegal/disturbing images before they appear."
She continued, "We’re also liaising with external specialists to see if there are any further tools we can employ to help us prevent this from happening again in the future."
NSPCC research recently found several safety risks associated with generative AI including sexual grooming, sexual harassment, bullying, child sexual abuse and exploitation material, harmful content, and harmful ads.
Generative AI is currently being used to generate sexual abuse images of children, enable perpetrators to more effectively commit sexual extortion, groom children and provide misinformation or harmful advice to young people, the charity added. From as early as 2019, the NSPCC has received contacts from children via Childline about AI.
In light of this alarming trend, the NSPCC has shared six top tips for parents on how to support kids to use AI safely.
Talk about where AI is being used
Have open conversations with your child about where they are seeing AI tools and content online. This is an opportunity to talk about the risks and benefits they are experiencing.
Remind young people not everything is real
Remind children that much of what we see online may have been edited. There can be common indicators to show something is AI generated, but it is not always obvious. Some of these indicators can be an overall ‘perfect’ appearance, body parts or movements appearing differently or not looking ‘true to life’.
Discuss misuse of generative AI
Make sure that your child knows it’s not OK for anyone to create content to harm other people. If they ever experience this or are worried about someone doing it, then they can report that.
If you are concerned about how someone is behaving towards a child online this can be reported to law enforcement agency CEOP.
If a sexual image or video has been created, this can be reported via Report Remove.
Remind them to check sources
AI summaries and chatbots can be helpful tools to get quick answers to a question but it’s important to know it’s coming from a reliable source.
Sources should be listed and will often have links so they can be checked. If the source is not listed or is not a reliable source, it’s a wise move to urge them to check a trusted site off their own backs to verify the information.
Signpost to safe sources of health and wellbeing advice
Young people consult the internet for advice and answers to questions, meaning they come across advice from an AI bot or summary. It’s important they access safe information from reliable sources, so it can be helpful to make sure they know of child-friendly safe sites such as Childline.
Make sure they know where to go for help
Ensure your child knows they can talk to you or another safe adult like a teacher if anything worries them. They can also contact Childline 24/7 on 0800 11 11 or via email or online chat, there are lots of ways they can get support.
