The European Union is poised to prohibit artificial intelligence tools designed to generate child sexual abuse material and non-consensual explicit images of adults. Negotiators from the European Parliament and Council reached an agreement on Thursday to outlaw these AI systems, pending formal adoption into law. This formalisation is anticipated before early August, encompassing images, video, and audio content.
Scope of the Ban
The prohibition applies to AI systems placed on the EU market with the explicit purpose of creating such content or those lacking reasonable safety measures. Companies have until 2 December to ensure their systems comply with the new regulations. This measure is part of a broader agreement on AI tools within the bloc.
Key Demands Met
Irish MEP Michael McNamara, co-rapporteur for the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee, stated: "We secured a ban on nudification applications, one of our key demands. We fought for it because non-consensual intimate imagery is a systemic harm being industrialised by AI, and the overwhelming majority of victims are women and girls." He emphasised that this marks the first time such a ban has been enshrined in EU AI law, adding: "This deal delivers real protections for EU citizens. The European Parliament had a chance to act for women and children, and we took it."
Rising Threat of AI-Generated Abuse
The Internet Watch Foundation recently reported a more than 260-fold increase in AI-generated child sexual abuse videos in 2025 compared to the previous year. The watchdog warned that video models, nudification apps, subscription platforms, and agentic AI systems are enabling offenders to produce and distribute illegal content at scale, allowing them to manipulate images of real children and simulate explicit chats with child characters.
UK Measures Against NCII
Under the new Crime and Policing Bill, currently in its final legislative stages, social media platforms will be required to remove any non-consensual intimate images reported within 48 hours. Failure to do so could result in hefty fines or the blocking of their services in the UK. Nudification tools used for AI deepfakes will also be banned under these rules. Victims of non-consensual intimate imagery will have up to three years to report the crime, a significant increase from the current six-month window.
While the Crime and Policing Bill aims to crack down on NCII, experts warn that platforms must do more to address the growing harm.
