25 held in global broom for distributing abuses of children generated by AI

LONDON

Twenty-five people were arrested in a major global sweep for distributed sexual explicit images of minors fully generated by artificial intelligence (AI), Europol announced on Friday.

Europol assisted the authorities in 19 countries in a large-scale repression of children’s sexual exploitation, which led to 25 world arrests, the statement said, adding that the suspects were members of a criminal group who was involved in the distribution of the images of the AI ​​minors.

“Most of the arrests were carried out simultaneously on February 26, 2025 during a global operation (Cumberland operation),” he mentioned, adding that several arrests are expected in the following weeks, because the operation is still in progress.

In addition to the arrest of 25 people, law enforcement performed 33 house searches, identifying 273 suspects.

“The main suspect, a Danish citizen who was arrested in November 2024, led an online platform where he distributed the material generated by the one to produce,” the statement said.

Europol mentioned that the operating Cumberland was one of the first cases involving sexual abuse of children generated by AI (CSAM), which made investigators extremely difficult, in particular, given the lack of national legislation approaching these crimes.

“These artificially generated images are so easily created that they can be produced by people with criminal intention, even without substantial technical knowledge,” said the executive director of Europol, Catherine de Bolle.

She said that this situation contributes to increasing the prevalence of sexual abuse materials on children and that, as the volume increases, it becomes “more and more difficult” for investigators to identify criminals or victims.

“The application of the law will have to develop new methods and investigative tools to address these emerging challenges,” said bolts.

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