Safeguarding Children Online: CSAM, AI, Harms, & Social Media's Impact

The NWG recently observed over 60 MACE’s (multi agency child exploitation meetings) and identified a recurring challenge: a limited understanding among practitioners regarding the context of children’s and young people's online and social media world and how this impacts assessments and safety planning.

In 2023, deepfake-related abuse had increased by 400% since 2017, with over 99% of these actions targeting women and girls. Child safety experts caution that the use of AI by predators to produce vast quantities of sexually explicit images of children is surpassing law enforcement's capacity to identify and save actual victims.

In April 2025, Ofcom introduced new regulations aimed at ensuring the safety of children online. Social media platforms and other internet services are mandated to prevent children's access to harmful content. These guidelines are applicable to websites and apps accessed by children, including social media, search engines, and gaming platforms. According to these guidelines, the most 'high-risk' services are required to implement 'highly effective' age verification methods to identify users under 18; algorithms that suggest content must exclude harmful material; all platforms must establish protocols for the rapid removal of dangerous content and children must have a “straightforward” way to report content.

This webinar will provide an invaluable opportunity for delegates to learn about the new legislation in this area and discuss further ways to tackle and disrupt online harm to children and consider what more could be done. Delegates will also explore methods to raise awareness of the harms of such abuse and develop strategies to effect assessment and safety planning.

Learning outcomes and objectives:

1. Understand the nature of AI CSAM and its convergence with online harms on social media.
2. Gain clarity on recent UK legislation including the Online Safety Act 2023 and Crime and Policing Act 2025 tackling online harms.
3. Recognise the specific harms, illegality and consequences related to online harm for children. Emphasise the dynamic nature of online threats and the need for professionals to stay informed and equipped.
4. Exchange views to tackle the rise and spread of AI-CSAM and how social media platforms or apps can be made to do more.
5. Address the challenges of protecting children particularly vulnerable to Online Harm and develop strategies for improving multi-agency cooperation around protecting vulnerable children through assessments and safety planning.
6. Discover available resources and understand the implications for victims.

Target Audience:

Professionals and Practitioners (including Staff in Educational settings, social workers, healthcare providers, Criminal Justice workers, safeguarding leads, youth workers, online safety professionals, Local Safeguarding Children Boards

Speaker blogs:

Lawrence Jordan is the Deputy CEO of the Maire Collins Foundation This is a specialist charity that looks to improving the outcomes for children sexually abused through the use of technology and provides resources, training and support to professionals on this subject. Lawrence has worked in a range of children social care sectors for over 20 years with the last 10 years specialising in children who have been exploited or trafficked. Lawrence has worked with Marie Collins Foundation for the last 4 years and continues to be a registers social worker as well as being a visiting senior fellow in safeguarding within the Institute of Social Justice and Crime, University of Suffolk.

Jeff Senior Internet Content Analystat Internet Watch Foundation has been with the Internet Watch Foundation for 8 years, the last 4 as a Senior Internet Content Analyst. The IWF is a UK-based non-profit organisation established to remove child sexual abuse images and videos from the internet. Working as part of a 16-strong team of analysts, Jeff's main areas of study are developments in AI-generated CSAM and disguised websites - websites which appear to be legitimate but are in fact hiding child sexual abuse images. On this latter subject he created a two-day training course which he has delivered to Hotline analysts from across Europe.

Steve Baguley - NWG Adolescent Safeguarding Lead his observations about online harm and social media through his work with 60+ MACE’s and how this impacts assessments and safety planning.