According to a released on Friday by Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, 25 people have been detained in a global operation involving child sexual abuse stuff.
One of the world’s first cases involving this kind of child abuse materials, Operation Cumberland, which was led by Danish law enforcement, Europol claimed made it “exceptionally hard for authorities.”
According to the speech, the procedure spanned 19 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as a number of European countries.
According to Europol, the situation began with a Norwegian man’s arrest in November 2024. The man allegedly created artificial intelligence for children’s sexual abuse and distributed it electronically under the name of” the man.” Customers may pay to use the software to “watch kids being abused,” according to Europol.
More arrests are anticipated to occur in the coming weeks, according to the company, which included some 273 suspects.
The members of the already detained were “part of a legal group” that distributed completely AI-generated images of minors, it was claimed.
The statement from Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, stated that” these artificially generated images are so easily created that people can produce them with criminal intent, even without any prior technical knowledge.”
As the amount increases, it becomes increasingly more difficult for researchers to identify criminals or victims, she added, and this contributes to the growing prevalence of child sexual abuse material.
Even though the content “fully artificial” and” no real victim depicted” in Operation Cumberland, AI-generated child sexual abuse material” still contributes to the objectification and sexualization of children,” the statement read.
The law enforcement agency will soon begin an online campaign to highlight” the consequences of using AI for illegal purposes,” it added.