Staff Reports
The internet used to be advertised as a place of free speech and harmless fun. Now it’s becoming a hunting ground where photorealistic images of children — made by artificial intelligence and dressed up to attract predators — are openly circulated on major platforms. This sickening trend was documented in reporting that found AI-generated children being posted and amplified on TikTok and Instagram, drawing thousands of followers and explicit comments from adults.
This is not a fringe problem; it’s a crisis. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reports a sharp, documented rise in tips and cases involving AI-generated sexual content, showing how quickly bad actors exploit new technology to target the innocent. Parents should be furious that watchdogs are having to play whack-a-mole while their kids’ feeds are weaponized against them.
Make no mistake: the predators know exactly what they’re doing, and they are using AI to produce material they claim isn’t “real” as a fig leaf for depravity. Experts have warned — bluntly and accurately — that criminals are turning generative AI into tools for blackmail, grooming and the creation of child sexual abuse images that law enforcement must now confront. We cannot accept a culture that tolerates the manufacture of exploitative images because someone claims the face on the screen “isn’t a real kid.”
Federal law and prosecutions are beginning to catch up, but enforcement is inconsistent and slow. The Department of Justice and prosecutors have made clear that AI-generated child sexual abuse material is still illegal and subject to prosecution, and recent cases demonstrate arrests are possible — but we need consistent, nationwide enforcement and clear statutes that leave no loopholes for virtual exploiters. If Congress and state legislatures won’t act quickly to criminalize and punish the creation and distribution of this garbage, then children will keep paying the price.
Big Tech’s algorithms are the gasoline on this fire, monetizing attention and turning child exploitation into engagement metrics that pad quarterly results. Lawmakers already grilling executives in hearings have shown the problem is systemic: platforms must be forced to block these accounts, stop algorithmic amplification, and hand over data so predators can be tracked and prosecuted. It’s high time for accountability — not the same tired excuses about “policy complexity” while our kids are preyed upon.
Conservatives who truly care about families and the safety of the next generation should lead a fierce, practical response: immediate funding for law enforcement cyber units, mandatory reporting and takedown rules for AI-generated images of minors, robust parental controls and civil penalties that hit big platforms where it hurts — their bottom line. This is not a partisan indulgence; it’s common-sense protection for children, and any leader who shrugs off this threat should be called out by parents in every county and parish.
We must also restore the moral clarity our culture needs: technology without virtue is a weapon in the hands of predators, and silence or complacency from elites and executives is complicity. Get involved, demand action from your representatives, and don’t let Big Tech tell you the solution is more algorithms and less accountability — because when it comes to protecting kids, nothing less than aggressive, principled action will do.
