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SEXUAL ABUSE AND AI
ERNESTO CAFFO (PRESIDENT OF TELEFONO AZZURRO): “The proposal to update the EU directive is an important signal from the institutions, transposition also by the Italian government is necessary”
Rome, 20 June 2025 – “The proposed revision of the European Directive on preventing and combating child sexual abuse is a very valuable response to the growing and uncontrolled dissemination of child sexual abuse material over the past decade. Furthermore, I very much welcome the decision to include images generated by AI in the definition of child sexual abuse material in order to adapt EU laws to technological developments. The position adopted in Strasbourg also provides for the clarification of the definition of consent for adolescents, the equal treatment of online and offline abuse, the recognition of online sexual grooming and extortion as separate criminal offences, the abolition of statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse offences and, finally, the strengthening of support measures for victims. Child sexual abuse, in fact, remains a serious emergency in the European Union with 1 out of 5 children claiming to have suffered sexual violence and a worrying 380% increase in abuse images generated with AI” – comments Prof. Ernesto Caffo, president of Telefono Azzurro.
“Numerous votes have been cast in favour of updating and modernising EU protection, and I hope that this constant and shared commitment will translate, also in our country, into prompt adherence and the development of greater awareness and institutional interest in child abuse and offences for material produced directly by Artificial Intelligence. The signal given by Parliament fits perfectly in the wake of the awareness-raising action that we have always promoted in Telefono Azzurro. Finally, this initiative occurs as the summer season approaches, a time when cases of sexual abuse increase in the face of an increase in social life,’
Prof. Caffo concludes.
