Sri Lanka Police have warned of the growing dangers posed by artificial intelligence-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), stressing that rapid technological developments are creating new risks for children online.
Police said CSAM had traditionally involved real photographs or videos depicting children who had been sexually abused. However, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, offenders can now manipulate ordinary images of children to create highly realistic sexually explicit or abusive content.
Police said the emerging threat could seriously affect children’s privacy, dignity, emotional well-being and mental health.
Parents and caregivers have been urged to remain alert to signs that a child may be facing threats or manipulation online. These may include closing or hiding screens when approached, making sudden changes to privacy settings, creating secret accounts, showing unusual secrecy about online communications, and displaying emotional distress such as fear, guilt or withdrawal.
Police also urged families to take proactive measures to protect children online, including having open and age-appropriate conversations about online risks.
Parents were advised to use private settings when sharing children’s photographs on social media, discourage children from sharing personal information or images with strangers, and use parental controls to monitor websites, applications and online services.
Police further stressed that children should be reassured that they can report online incidents without fear of blame or punishment.
Police said protecting children in the digital age begins with awareness, and stressed that parents and caregivers must remain vigilant, informed and proactive as technology continues to evolve.
