Your child doesn’t need to take a nude picture to become a victim of image abuse. Even a simple selfie you took on your family vacation or a pic you post on an Instagram story could be used by someone else to make a sexual deepfake.
Thanks to the power of generative AI, it’s so easy to alter an image, change someone’s face, or ‘undress’ them in seconds without any technical know-how.
Sadly, in a recent UNICEF, ECPAT, and INTERPOL study of 11 countries, at least 1.2 million children admitted to having their images edited to create sexually explicit deepfakes in one year alone.
This presents a challenging parenting situation. How do you establish safety limits without your child feeling as though you are spying on their every message or swipe?
In this article, we cover the deepfake risks, the right family rules, trust-building approaches, and a step-by-step action plan in case things go south.
Understand the real risks: How AI-Generated explicit images can affect children
AI-generated explicit photos are more than just another online problem. It can be a weapon that can affect kids in multiple different ways, either as the perpetrator or participant.
Ordinary photos can become fake explicit images
A class photo, a club photo, a TikTok dance or a selfie from a birthday party can serve as the basis for manipulation with AI.
Take a Year 9 football team photo, for example. One boy downloads it, runs a player’s face through a nudify app as a “joke,” and now the player suffers humiliation.
They never consented to the manipulation, yet they must now go through the embarrassment and unwanted attention.
Deepfake abuse can happen between classmates, not just strangers
When it comes to deepfakes, the most common source is often someone they know. It can be a classmate, an ex, a group of friends, or someone who is trying to be funny for likes.
But why is this important? Because kids are likely to downplay it. It was just “Jake playing around,” which doesn’t sound as serious as a stranger threat.
This means they may not even tell you. Even though they may remain embarrassed in school, because the person who made it is sitting two desks away and everyone knows it.
The psychological and social consequences go beyond the image itself
One thing to note is that even if everyone knows that the image is fake, the damage is still real.
Children express feeling exposed, worried about attending school, nervous about posting again, and worried about teachers seeing it.
Think of it as a terrible rumor that comes with a photo attached. Even if they say “it’s not true” a hundred times, the image will still keep circulating in people’s minds.
Children can be both victims and participants
It’s possible the same kid that’s being targeted today will be the one who’s sharing another kid’s deepfake the following week.
They might be doing this just to fit in or so as not to become the next target. Which means that a simple rule that just says “don’t be a victim” misses half the problem.
Children must realize that it is extremely damaging to a person to create, save, or send a sexualized image of them – even if it is to be a joke – and that it can have legal implications.
Establish clear family rules for AI-Generated explicit images
Good rules are brief, clear, and easy to remember. Here are five to adopt as a family.
Rule 1: Never create or request sexualized images of real people
No using AI tools, apps, or filters to make sexualized, nude, or “undressed” images of anyone, real or not, with or without their permission.
Make it clear that making one is harmful, whatever the intention is. You could give your child a script to follow: “If a friend wants you to nudify someone’s photo, you say no and tell me.”
Rule 2: Never save, forward, or participate in sharing explicit deepfakes
If it’s sent by someone, do not save it, take a screenshot of it, respond to it, or forward it “to warn people.” They should close it, not engage, and report it to a trusted adult.
Forwarding is what turns one bad act into school-wide humiliation. Each forward is a new act of harm, and it may also cause legal issues for the forwarder.
Rule 3: Protect personal photos and digital identity
Maintain privacy of accounts, limit DMs to people they know, and be careful about posting close-up photos, school uniforms, or location.
While you cannot make your child invisible online, you can reduce the supply of good-quality photos that are easy to misuse.
Rule 4: Never respond to threats or requests for more images
Fake images are often used for sextortion. They might get a message that reads, “Send a real one, or I post this.” In this case, they should not just give in to the request.
According to Thorn’s 2024 survey, approximately 1 in 17 minors have been a victim of sextortion themselves. Therefore, teach your child to stop replying and show you right away.
Rule 5: Report harmful content instead of trying to investigate it
Curious kids sometimes go investigating the image or confront the creator. However, they shouldn’t. Searching exposes them to more bad content, and confrontations escalate things.
Instead, reporting via the platform and saving only the username and date is much more valuable information for the school than having ten screenshots of the explicit image.
How can parents enforce these rules without making children feel monitored?
While it is important to have clear rules, it is also important how parents put those rules into action.
Explain the reasons behind the rules instead of imposing restrictions
Don’t simply tell your child, “Because I said so!” Tell them why. For instance, “We don’t forward these because it can ruin someone’s school life, even if it’s fake.”
If children have an understanding of the human impact, they will be more likely to follow the rule when you are not looking.
Try building the rules together and let your child suggest some of the restrictions. A rule they’ve helped write is like their rule to them, not your spyware.
Focus on safety signals, not reading every private conversation
You do not have to read all the DMs to keep your kid safe. All you have to do is catch on to specific signs such as a sudden withdrawal, late-night anxiety, or a new secretive account.
A parental control tool can help with this. For instance, some families use FlashGet Kids to view app usage, screen time, and activity reports, without having to go through everything.
Geofence alerts and app controls help build healthy digital habits.
The point isn’t to catch your child doing anything wrong. It is important to be able to identify when a change has occurred, to allow you to ask questions at an appropriate time.
Create regular, low-pressure conversations about AI and online experiences
One big talk doesn’t really work; however, short, regular check-ins do.
When driving, cooking, or taking out the dog, ask them, “Have you noticed anything weird or AI-generated this week online?” Make sure there are no consequences attached.
When talking about AI feels normal, reporting a deepfake feels normal too. Your child will already know you won’t explode, because they’ve seen you being calm about the topic before.
Give children a safe way to ask for help without fear of automatic punishment
Explain, “If you come to me with something online, even if you broke a rule, my first response will be to help you, not to punish you.”
If your child forwards a deepfake and apologizes later, address the harm first, and discuss the consequences afterward, calmly.
What should parents do if their child is involved in an AI-Generated explicit image incident?
The first reaction you give sets the tone. So be calm, thank your child for telling you, and take things one step at a time.
If your child is the victim of a deepfake
- Provide instant emotional assistance. Reassure your child that they did nothing wrong and that the image is a non-consensual violation.
- Preserve digital evidence. Save screenshots of the content, account handles, direct messages, web URLs, and the time and date before anything is deleted.
- Notify school administrators. If the perpetrator or distribution is from classmates, provide evidence to school officials to activate safety protocols.
If your child has created or shared someone else’s deepfake
- Immediately end the activity. Make sure to delete all copies from your child’s devices and cloud storage accounts.
- Talk about the severity of the situation. Discuss legal and ethical implications in a non-violent and non-threatening manner.
- Contact appropriate professionals. Consult a legal expert or school counselor to address how to rectify the situation and legal liability.
If your child receives or discovers explicit images of another child
- Avoid forwarding the file. Remind your child to keep the details of the message intact but not to share the media.
- Report to platform moderators. Use internal app tools to flag the content for immediate removal.
- Notify the targeted child’s family. Alert the impacted family or school authorities in a responsible manner, allowing for protective measures to be taken.
How to get harmful images removed and seek further help
- Take it down. Utilize services like NCMEC’s Take It Down tool to create digital hashes of explicit images of minors, preventing them from being uploaded on online platforms.
- StopNCII.org. For people near legal age, use digital fingerprinting services to prevent non-consensual intimate imagery online.
- CyberTipline. File an official report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at cybertipline.org
Build a family AI safety agreement that can grow with your child
Set different expectations for different age groups
Customize online safety guidelines to your child’s age.
- Pre-teens (Ages 10-12). Focus on strict privacy settings, curated app stores, and shared family screen spaces.
- Teens (Ages 13-15). Implement guidelines for posting pictures, peer pressure in group chats, and tool safety.
- Older Teens (Ages 16+). Talk about legal consent, repercussions of digital footprints, and safeguarding your reputation in the long term.
Agree on what parents will and will not monitor
Set clear guidelines for device usage. Inform them which safety applications are on, what would cause an alert, and when a parent would check a device.
When you are honest with your child, it will help to create trust.
Review the rules together as AI technology changes
The field of artificial intelligence technology is constantly evolving. Schedule a monthly review of your family agreement.
Reviewing rules together will help you keep your guidelines up to date with new digital tools and challenges.
Conclusion
To manage risks from generative AI, proactive parenting is required, which is based on trust, not complete monitoring.
You can help keep your child’s digital identity safe by setting clear limits on the creation or sharing of explicit deepfakes, and by providing clear reporting procedures.
Paired with safety management tools like FlashGet Kids and supportive resources like NCMEC’s Take It Down program, parents can create a resilient environment.
With open communication, when there are challenges online, your child is able to come to you for advice and guidance.
