Federal law enforcement officials have issued back-to-school warnings for parents and carers amid a rise in AI-generated child abuse material and an expected spike in reports of online child sexual exploitation.
Warning: This story contains references to child abuse.
There was an increase in students using AI technology to create deepfakes of fellow classmates in 2024, according to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCE), which is led by the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
This material was sometimes created to embarrass or harass classmates, officials said, and its increasing prevalence had been highlighted by the imprisonment of two men last year.
One of the men was jailed for producing almost 800 AI-generated child abuse images, while the other was jailed for uploading and downloading child abuse material (CAM), which included content generated by AI.
In June 2024, a teenager was also arrested after female students at a Victorian school had their likenesses used to create AI-generated nude images, and a Sydney teen was put under investigation earlier this month after being accused of using AI to create explicit deepfake images of other students.
As AI technologies become more easily accessible, AFP commander and ACCCE head Helen Schneider said parents and guardians should have “open and honest conversations” with their children, as they may not know using AI to create material depicting their classmates could be a criminal offence.
"These conversations can include how they interact with technology, what to do if they are exposed to child abuse material, bolstering privacy settings on online accounts, and declining unknown friend or follower requests,” she said.
"Children and young people are curious by nature, however, anything that depicts the abuse of someone under the age of 18 — whether that's videos, images, drawings or stories — is child abuse material, irrespective of whether it is 'real' or not.”
The AFP says investigators have reported a rise in AI-generated child abuse material. Photo: AFP / Supplied
Online sexual exploitation reports rise
Authorities expected reports of online child sexual exploitation to spike during and immediately after school holiday periods, according to data from ACCCE.
The centre received 58,503 reports of online child sexual exploitation in the 2023-24 financial year — an average of 160 reports per day, and a 45 per cent increase on the previous year’s total.
The AFP urged parents and carers to talk to their children about their internet use and report any inappropriate messages or contact children had received.
"The increased popularity and availability of internet-enabled devices and online gaming, social networking or image and video-sharing applications, provides more ways for online offenders to target children and young people and manipulate or threaten them into providing sexually explicit content," Schneider said.
"When children and young people head back to school and reconnect with friends and their schooling community, they may discuss any inappropriate online contact they received."
The AFP said children and young people may also be unaware that sharing personal details, images, or photos with strangers online could lead to them being targeted for exploitation or sextortion.
Parents, carers urged to be wary of what they post
Schneider said parents and carers should be aware of images and information they might inadvertently share in back-to-school photos of their children on social media, as they could be “taken, shared and altered by those who have less-than-innocent intentions”.
"The AFP has seen non-explicit pictures of children and young people become the target of highly sexualised and inappropriate comments or role play, which our investigators define as text-based child abuse material,” she said.
"While these incidents are rare, the sad reality is they do happen, which is why we are urging families to be proactive with keeping their child's information safe as the 2025 school year gets under way.”
Blurring or obscuring details such as school logos or street addresses is a good idea, Schneider said, as well as checking privacy settings on social media apps to make sure images were only shared with trusted family and friends.
On Thursday, ACCCE published an updated list of emojis, phrases, and acronyms it said offenders commonly used to target children and young people online.
Image: AFP / Supplied
Image: AFP / Supplied
The AFP has also urged parents and carers to use its free education program ThinkUKnow.
If you need someone to talk to, you can call:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
- Headspace on 1800 650 890
- 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732
- Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
- MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
- QLife (for LGBTIQ+ people) on 1800 184 527
- 13YARN (for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) on 13 92 76
- Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467