According to Cointelegraph, a coalition of major social media platforms, AI developers, governments, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have issued a joint statement pledging to combat abusive content generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The policy statement, issued by the United Kingdom on Oct. 30, includes 27 signatories such as the governments of the United States, Australia, Korea, Germany, and Italy, along with social media platforms SnapChat, TikTok, and OnlyFans. AI platforms Stability AI and Ontocord.AI, as well as a number of NGOs working towards internet safety and children's rights, are also among the signatories.

The statement acknowledges that while AI offers enormous opportunities in tackling threats of online child sexual abuse, it can also be utilized by predators to generate such types of material. Data from the Internet Watch Foundation revealed that within a month of 11,108 AI-generated images shared in a dark web forum, 2,978 depicted content related to child sexual abuse. The U.K. government said the statement stands as a pledge to 'seek to understand and, as appropriate, act on the risks arising from AI to tackling child sexual abuse through existing fora.' It encouraged transparency on plans for measuring, monitoring, and managing ways AI can be exploited by child sexual offenders and on a country level, to build policies regarding the topic. Additionally, it aims to maintain a dialogue around combating child sexual abuse in the AI age.

This statement was released in the run-up to the U.K. hosting its global summit on AI safety this week. Concerns over child safety in relation to AI have been a major topic of discussion in the face of the rapid emergence of the widespread use of the technology. On Oct. 26, 34 states in the U.S. filed a lawsuit against Meta, the Facebook and Instagram parent company, over child safety concerns.