AI being used to fake digital porn and blackmail teens, warns FBI, experts

Experts familiar with the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) are warning that the rapidly evolving technology is being used to fake child pornography and blackmail kids.

“Malicious actors use content manipulation technologies and services to exploit photos and videos—typically captured from an individual’s social media account, open internet, or requested from the victim—into sexually-themed images that appear true-to-life in likeness to a victim, then circulate them on social media, public forums, or pornographic websites,” said the FBI in a statement.

The law enforcement agency noted in April it’s seen a measurable “up-tick” in the number of blackmail attempts using “fake images or videos created from content posted on their social media sites or web postings.”

Yaron Litwin, the CMO and Digital Safety Expert for Canopy, a leading AI solution to combat harmful digital content, said that parents aren’t yet aware of this rising threat to children on the internet. 

“If I weren’t in this industry, I don’t know, as a parent, if I would be fully aware of where this could go and what could be done,” Litwin told Fox News Digital.  

But Cybersecurity expert Joseph Steinberg said no technology exists to fully protect kids from online harm, so the best option for parents is to have an honest conversation with their kids about the use of social media. 

“You do want to prevent them from being in dangerous situations, but you have to educate them. There’s just no substitute … There is no technological way to prevent these types of [dangerous] communications from happening online,” Steinberg told the New York Post. 

The Post cited the suicide of Jordan DeMay, a 17-year-old from Michigan, who was tricked into sending sex photos to an account of a girl he knew that was controlled by Nigerian hackers.  

“My son was smart. He was a good student. He was a great athlete,” DeMay’s dad, John DeMay, told Fox News Digital. “Someone came to his bedroom at 3 in the morning and murdered him through Instagram when we were all sleeping at night, and we had zero chance to stop it.” 

In December 2022, the FBI estimated that there were 3,000 such minor-aged “sextortion” victims last year and urged parents to talk to their kids about the responsible use of social media and internet. 

“The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys—and the fact is that the many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI is here for victims, but we also need parents and caregivers to work with us to prevent this crime before it happens and help children come forward if it does.”  

The FBI recommends: 

• Monitoring children’s online activity and discussing risks associated with sharing personal content; 
• Use discretion when posting images, videos, and personal content online, particularly those that include children or their information; 
• Applying privacy settings on social media accounts and limiting access to photos to friends only; 
• Running of frequent online searches of you and your children’s information (e.g., full name, address, phone number, etc.) to help identify the exposure and spread of personal information on the internet.