This extends from grooming to deepfakes, embedding harmful features, cyberbullying and inappropriate content: “We saw that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many children, particularly girls and young women, were abused online and, in many cases, this resulted in physical harm,” she says.
Child advocacy organizations report that predators can use AI to analyze a child’s online behavior, emotional state, and interests to tailor their targeting strategy.
AI also allows criminals to generate fake, explicit images of real children, fueling a new form of sexual extortion.
The Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, an independent global institute created to compile the most reliable data available on child sexual exploitation and abuse, found in a 2025 report that technology-facilitated child abuse cases in the US increased from 4,700 in 2023 to more than 67,000 in 2024.
Young adults check social media in North Macedonia.
Australia leads the way
UN Member States are taking stronger action as they learn about the scale and severity of the problem.
In late 2025, Australia became the first nation in the world to ban social media accounts for children under 16, on the grounds that the risks of the content they share far outweigh the potential benefits.
The Government cited a report it had commissioned, which showed that almost two-thirds of children aged 10 to 15 had seen hateful, violent or distressing content and more than half had been cyberbullied. Most of this content was seen on social media platforms.
Several other countries, including Malaysia, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, appear set to follow Australia’s lead, preparing regulations and laws for similar bans or restrictions.
AI Illiteracy
And, in early 2026, a wide variety of UN agencies interested in child safety put their names on a Joint declaration on Artificial Intelligence and the Rights of the Child, published on January 19, which pulls no punches in its description of the risks and society’s collective inability to confront them.
The statement identifies a lack of AI literacy among children, teachers, parents and caregivers, as well as a shortage of technical training for policymakers and governments on AI frameworks, data protection methods and children’s rights impact assessments.
Responsibility of technology giants
Tech companies are also in the picture: The statement says that most of the AI-powered tools they make – along with their underlying models, techniques and systems – are not currently designed with children and their well-being in mind.
“We are really concerned and we would like the private sector to participate, participate and be part of the story that we are writing together with other UN agencies and other actors who believe that technology can be an enabler, but it can also destroy,” says Mr. Zavazava.
The senior UN official trusts, however, that these companies will commit to making their tools more secure.
“At first, we had a sense that they were worried about stifling innovation, but our message is very clear: with responsible deployment of AI, you can still make profits, you can still do business, you can still gain market share.
“The private sector is a partner, but we have to raise the alarm when we see something that is going to lead to undesirable results.
We hold regular meetings in which we talk about their responsibilities and some of them already have statements about how they should protect populations and children. It is our duty together to fight against the evils that technology brings.”
A question of children’s rights
While the UN bodies mentioned in the document (full list below) emphasize the need for these companies to ensure that their products are designed to respect children’s rights, they are also calling on all sectors of society to take responsibility for the way they are used.
This is not the first time concerns have been raised from a rights perspective: in 2021, new language was attached to the Convention on the Rights of the Child – a cornerstone of international children’s rights law and the most ratified human rights treaty in history – to reflect the dangers of the digital age.
However, UN bodies feel that more guidance is needed to help countries regulate more effectively and have drawn up a comprehensive list of recommendations.
“Children are accessing the Internet at a younger age and must be protected,” says Mr. Zavazava. That’s why we established these online child protection guidelines. “The first part of the guidelines is aimed at parents, the second at teachers, the third at regulators and the fourth is relevant to industry and the private sector.”