Latest news with #NationalCenterforMissing&ExploitedChildren
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Virginia: Amid missing children rumors, Netizens say ‘creepy' ice cream truck being spotted every night
Virginia State Police have debunked social media rumors claiming there has been a mass abduction of children in the state. However, adding to the mass abduction claims, new rumors have said that a suspicious ice cream truck is being spotted every night. Virginia: Amid missing children rumors, Netizens say 'creepy' ice cream truck being spotted every night (Unsplash - representational image) About 100 children were reported missing to law enforcement agencies across Virginia from August 3 to 9. However, officials said the cases are not connected. Several videos have gone viral on TikTok, showing compilations of children reported missing in Virginia. One video even shows screenshots of missing children appearing to be from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's website. These clips have garnered missions of views. Read More | Hannah Osborn disappearance: Missing Arkansas teen's dad issues desperate plea, 'If you are out there…' New rumors A Facebook post that has surfaced has added another layer to the conspiracy theory. 'Have y'all been seeing those stories on a lot of missing kids across VA over the past week & an ice truck keeps going through every night really late,' the post reads. 'I've been slowly following it.' Netizens expressed their fears in the comment section of the post, with user saying, 'I've seen it. It's disturbing! I've never seen so many missing people in my lifetime as right now!! And children being hurt or killed by their parents is crazy high it seems. It's disheartening.' 'Yes, either disappearing by walking away mysteriously, or going missing on a destination somewhere. In a lot of cases the parents are killing them,' wrote a user, while another said, 'Yes and the ice cream trucks super creepy! Something has to be going on with those trucks after dark playing music loudly .' One concerned user wrote, 'Who really knows what the truth is, hopefully the truth is what's reported. You just never know what to believe these days. Regardless, there are real threats to our kids in any and every state. Always best to keep your eyes and ears open anytime you walk out your front door and don't let down your guard for a second until you're safely back home. Very scary and very sad times we're living in.' 'So is the ice cream truck supposed to be luring the kids out at night? What time of day are the kids going missing?' a user asked. 'These no good for nothings will use anything to get our kids. Parents please don't let your kids go anywhere alone,' wrote another. Rumors dismissed Virginia State Police recently addressed the rumors, saying no such mass abduction has taken place. 'Virginia State Police is aware of multiple social media posts raising concerns about missing children across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia State Police is not investigating any reports of mass abductions in Virginia, nor is there evidence of mass abductions occurring in Virginia,' the police wrote. Read More | What happened to Kylee Monteiro? Concerns grow as 'timid and scared' pregnant teen goes missing in Massachusetts The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has also dismissed the rumors. "When there's information out there that's not necessarily accurate, that's not helpful for law enforcement [and] parents that are looking for their children," said Leemie Khang-Sofer with the organization, as reported by
Time of India
17-07-2025
- Time of India
AI-generated images of child sexual abuse are flooding the internet
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills A new flood of child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is hitting a tipping point of realism, threatening to overwhelm the past two years, new AI technologies have made it easier for criminals to create explicit images and videos of children . Now, researchers at organizations including the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are warning of a surge of new material this year that is nearly indistinguishable from actual data released Thursday from the Internet Watch Foundation, a British nonprofit that investigates and collects reports of child sexual abuse imagery, identified 1,286 AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse so far this year globally, compared with just two in the first half of videos have become smoother and more detailed, the organization's analysts said, because of improvements in the technology and collaboration among groups on hard-to-reach parts of the internet called the dark web to produce rise of lifelike videos adds to an explosion of AI-produced child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. In the United States, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said it had received 485,000 reports of AI-generated CSAM, including stills and videos, in the first half of the year, compared with 67,000 for all of 2024."It's a canary in the coal mine," said Derek Ray-Hill, interim CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation. The AI-generated content can contain images of real children alongside fake images, he said, adding, "There is an absolute tsunami we are seeing."The deluge of AI material threatens to make law enforcement's job even harder. While still a tiny fraction of the total amount of child sexual abuse material found online, which tallied reports in the millions, the police have been inundated with requests to investigate AI-generated images, taking away from their pursuit of those engaging in child abuse Law enforcement authorities say federal laws against child sexual abuse material and obscenity cover AI-generated images, including content that is wholly created by the technology and do not contain real images of federal statutes, state legislators have also raced to criminalize AI-generated depictions of child sexual abuse, enacting more than three dozen state laws in recent courts are only just beginning to grapple with the legal implications, legal experts new technology stems from generative AI, which exploded onto the scene with OpenAI's introduction of ChatGPT in 2022. Soon after, companies introduced AI image and video generators, prompting law enforcement and child safety groups to warn about safety of the new AI content includes real imagery of child sexual abuse that is reused in new videos and still images. Some of the material uses photos of children scraped from school websites and social media. Images are typically shared among users in forums, via messaging on social media and other online December 2023, researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory found hundreds of examples of child sexual abuse material in a dataset used in an early version of the image generator Stable Diffusion Stability AI , which runs Stable Diffusion, said it was not involved in the data training of the model studied by Stanford. It said an outside company had developed that version before Stability AI took over exclusive development of the image in recent months have AI tools become good enough to trick the human eye with an image or video, avoiding some of the previous giveaways like too many fingers on a hand, blurry backgrounds or jerky transitions between video Internet Watch Foundation found examples last month of individuals in an underground web forum praising the latest technology, where they remarked on how realistic a new cache of AI-generated child sexual abuse videos were. They pointed out how the videos ran smoothly, contained detailed backgrounds with paintings on walls and furniture, and depicted multiple individuals engaged in violent and illegal acts against 35 tech companies now report AI-generated images of child sexual abuse to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said John Shehan, a senior official with the group, although some are uneven in their approach. The companies filing the most reports typically are more proactive in finding and reporting images of child sexual abuse, he which offers AI tools via its cloud computing service, reported 380,000 incidents of AI-generated child sexual abuse material in the first half of the year, which it took down. OpenAI reported 75,000 cases. Stability AI reported fewer than AI said it had introduced safeguards to enhance its safety standards and "is deeply committed to preventing the misuse of our technology, particularly in the creation and dissemination of harmful content, including CSAM."Amazon and OpenAI, when asked to comment, pointed to reports they posted online that explained their efforts to detect and report child sexual abuse criminal networks are using AI to create sexually explicit images of minors and then blackmail the children, said a Department of Justice official, who requested anonymity to discuss private investigations. Other children use apps that take images of real people and disrobe them, creating what is known as a deepfake sexual abuse images containing real children are clearly illegal, the law is still evolving on materials generated fully by artificial intelligence, some legal scholars March, a Wisconsin man who was accused by the Justice Department of illegally creating, distributing and possessing fully synthetic images of child sexual abuse successfully challenged one of the charges against him on First Amendment grounds. Judge James Peterson of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said that "the First Amendment generally protects the right to possess obscene material in the home" so long as it isn't "actual child pornography."But the trial will move forward on the other charges, which relate to the production and distribution of 13,000 images created with an image generator. The man tried to share images with a minor on Instagram, which reported him, according to federal prosecutors."The Department of Justice views all forms of AI-generated CSAM as a serious and emerging threat," said Matt Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's criminal division.
The Star
11-07-2025
- The Star
AI-generated images of child sexual abuse are flooding the Internet
WASHINGTON: A new flood of child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is hitting a tipping point of realism, threatening to overwhelm authorities. Over the past two years, new AI technologies have made it easier for criminals to create explicit images and videos of children. Now, researchers at organisations including the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are warning of a surge of new material this year that is nearly indistinguishable from actual abuse. New data released July 10 from the Internet Watch Foundation, a British nonprofit that investigates and collects reports of child sexual abuse imagery, identified 1,286 AI-generated videos of child sexual abuse so far this year globally, compared with just two in the first half of 2024. The videos have become smoother and more detailed, the organisation's analysts said, because of improvements in the technology and collaboration among groups on hard-to-reach parts of the Internet called the dark web to produce them. The rise of lifelike videos adds to an explosion of AI-produced child sexual abuse material, or CSAM. In the United States, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children said it had received 485,000 reports of AI-generated CSAM, including stills and videos, in the first half of the year, compared with 67,000 for all of 2024. 'It's a canary in the coal mine,' said Derek Ray-Hill, interim CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation. The AI-generated content can contain images of real children alongside fake images, he said, adding, 'There is an absolute tsunami we are seeing.' The deluge of AI material threatens to make law enforcement's job even harder. While still a tiny fraction of the total amount of child sexual abuse material found online, which tallied reports in the millions, the police have been inundated with requests to investigate AI-generated images, taking away from their pursuit of those engaging in child abuse. Law enforcement authorities say federal laws against child sexual abuse material and obscenity cover AI-generated images, including content that is wholly created by the technology and do not contain real images of children. Beyond federal statutes, state legislators have also raced to criminalise AI-generated depictions of child sexual abuse, enacting more than three dozen state laws in recent years. But courts are only just beginning to grapple with the legal implications, legal experts said. The new technology stems from generative AI, which exploded onto the scene with OpenAI's introduction of ChatGPT in 2022. Soon after, companies introduced AI image and video generators, prompting law enforcement and child safety groups to warn about safety issues. Much of the new AI content includes real imagery of child sexual abuse that is reused in new videos and still images. Some of the material uses photos of children scraped from school websites and social media. Images are typically shared among users in forums, via messaging on social media and other online platforms. In December 2023, researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory found hundreds of examples of child sexual abuse material in a dataset used in an early version of the image generator Stable Diffusion. Stability AI, which runs Stable Diffusion, said it was not involved in the data training of the model studied by Stanford. It said an outside company had developed that version before Stability AI took over exclusive development of the image generator. Only in recent months have AI tools become good enough to trick the human eye with an image or video, avoiding some of the previous giveaways like too many fingers on a hand, blurry backgrounds or jerky transitions between video frames. The Internet Watch Foundation found examples last month of individuals in an underground web forum praising the latest technology, where they remarked on how realistic a new cache of AI-generated child sexual abuse videos were. They pointed out how the videos ran smoothly, contained detailed backgrounds with paintings on walls and furniture, and depicted multiple individuals engaged in violent and illegal acts against minors. About 35 tech companies now report AI-generated images of child sexual abuse to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said John Shehan, a senior official with the group, although some are uneven in their approach. The companies filing the most reports typically are more proactive in finding and reporting images of child sexual abuse, he said. Amazon, which offers AI tools via its cloud computing service, reported 380,000 incidents of AI-generated child sexual abuse material in the first half of the year, which it took down. OpenAI reported 75,000 cases. Stability AI reported fewer than 30. Stability AI said it had introduced safeguards to enhance its safety standards and 'is deeply committed to preventing the misuse of our technology, particularly in the creation and dissemination of harmful content, including CSAM.' Amazon and OpenAI, when asked to comment, pointed to reports they posted online that explained their efforts to detect and report child sexual abuse material. Some criminal networks are using AI to create sexually explicit images of minors and then blackmail the children, said a Department of Justice official, who requested anonymity to discuss private investigations. Other children use apps that take images of real people and disrobe them, creating what is known as a deepfake nude. Although sexual abuse images containing real children are clearly illegal, the law is still evolving on materials generated fully by artificial intelligence, some legal scholars said. In March, a Wisconsin man who was accused by the Justice Department of illegally creating, distributing and possessing fully synthetic images of child sexual abuse successfully challenged one of the charges against him on First Amendment grounds. Judge James Peterson of US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin said that 'the First Amendment generally protects the right to possess obscene material in the home' so long as it isn't 'actual child pornography.' But the trial will move forward on the other charges, which relate to the production and distribution of 13,000 images created with an image generator. The man tried to share images with a minor on Instagram, which reported him, according to federal prosecutors. 'The Department of Justice views all forms of AI-generated CSAM as a serious and emerging threat,' said Matt Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's criminal division. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Engadget
10-07-2025
- Engadget
Reports indicate a massive uptick in AI-generated CSAM throughout the internet
Internet Watch Foundation AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) has been flooding the internet, according to a report by The New York Times . Researchers at organizations like the Internet Watch Foundation and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are warning that this new AI-created CSAM is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Let's go over some numbers. The Internet Watch Foundation, a nonprofit that investigates and collects reports of CSAM , has identified 1,286 AI-generated videos so far this year. This is compared with just two videos identified in the first half of 2024. That's an exponential increase. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. 🔎 Developments in artificial intelligence (AI) come with a range of benefits, including supporting learning and innovation. There is, however, growing concern for how AI can also be misused to create and share child sexual abuse material (CSAM), referred to as AI-CSAM. In… — Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) (@IWFhotline) July 8, 2025 The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children re-affirms those statistics. It told NYT that it has received 485,000 reports of AI-generated CSAM, including still images and videos, in the first half of 2025. This is compared to 67,000 for all of 2024. That's another massive uptick 'It's a canary in the coal mine,' said Derek Ray-Hill, interim chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation. 'There is an absolute tsunami we are seeing.' This technology is constantly improving, so the videos and images have become more realistic. The Internet Watch Foundation found an internet forum in which users were praising how realistic the new videos were. Reporting suggests that this content is distributed through the dark web, making it harder for law enforcement agencies to identify the offenders. It's worth remembering how AI image generators work. They are trained using real images and videos. The New York Times says that much of this new glut of AI-generated content includes real CSAM that has been repurposed by the algorithm. Some of the material even uses real photos of children scraped from school websites and social media. The issue dates back to the early days of this technology. In 2023, researchers at the Stanford Internet Observatory found hundreds of examples of CSAM in a data set used in an early version of the image generator Stable Diffusion. Stability AI says it has introduced safeguards to improve safety standards and "is deeply committed to preventing the misuse of our technology, particularly in the creation and dissemination of harmful content, including CSAM." That did lead other companies to start reporting AI-generated CSAM to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Amazon reported a whopping 380,000 instances of AI-generated CSAM in the first half of this year, all of which it took down. OpenAI reported 75,000 cases . To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. NCMEC Applauds the California State Legislature for Passing AB 1831 and looks forward to it being signed into law. NCMEC supports AB 1831 because it addresses gaps in California's legal remedies for child victims of Generative AI CSAM. We are heartened to see states move… — National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (@NCMEC) September 4, 2024 Courts have been slow to catch up with this tech. The DOJ made its first known arrest last year of a man suspected of possessing and distributing AI-generated CSAM . A UK man recently got 18 months in jail for using AI to generate the foul images, which he sold. 'The Department of Justice views all forms of AI-generated CSAM as a serious and emerging threat,' Matt Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, told NYT . It's worth noting that despite the alarming uptick in occurrences, AI-generated content still represents a mere fraction of all CSAM identified by authorities and watchdog organizations. For instance, the Internet Watch Foundation confirmed 291,273 reports of CSAM in 2024 and, as previously noted, just two instances were AI-generated.
Global News
13-06-2025
- Global News
‘Doomsday Mom' Lori Vallow Daybell convicted in 2nd murder conspiracy case
Lori Vallow Daybell, the so-called 'Doomsday Mom' who is already serving life sentences for the gruesome killings of her two youngest children, has been found guilty once again, this time of conspiring to kill her niece's ex-husband. The verdict marks her second murder conspiracy conviction in Arizona in less than two months. She was convicted Thursday on a charge of conspiring to murder Brandon Boudreaux, who was once married to Vallow Daybell's niece, outside his home in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert. In April, Vallow Daybell was found guilty in an Arizona court of conspiring with her brother, Alex Cox, to kill her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in 2019 at her home in Chandler, another Phoenix suburb. Cox died in December 2019 and was never charged. 1:38 Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty in death of her fourth husband In that case, prosecutors argued she was motivated by an opportunity to cash in on Vallow's US$1-million life insurance policy and a marriage to then-boyfriend Chad Daybell, who wrote several religious novels about prophecies and the end of the world. Story continues below advertisement Daybell is also serving life sentences for the deaths of Vallow Daybell's children, seven-year-old Joshua 'JJ' Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and his wife, Tammy Daybell. View image in full screen This combination photo of undated file photos released by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shows once-missing children Joshua 'JJ' Vallow, seven, left, and Tylee Ryan, 17. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children via AP Vallow Daybell is scheduled to be sentenced in both Arizona cases on July 25. Each conviction carries a life sentence. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Boudreaux told the court that his ex-wife, Melani Pawlowski, aspired to be like her aunt Lori and that the two began attending religious meetings together in 2018, and soon Pawlowski was arguing that they should stockpile food for the end of the world. In October 2019, someone in a Jeep outside Boudreaux's home fired a rifle shot at him, missing him but shattering a window on his car. Boudreaux recognized the Jeep as the vehicle that Vallow Daybell's daughter, Tylee Ryan, regularly drove before her death. Story continues below advertisement Cellphone data, receipts and surveillance video placed Cox at the scene. Prosecutors argued that Vallow Daybell helped clear the way for the attack by arranging phone use and providing cover. After the verdict was handed down on Thursday, Boudreaux thanked investigators for uncovering what he called 'the truth,' and also the jury for turning that truth into a conviction. He said, '2,078 days,' referencing the number of days since the shooting. 'Hatred, selfishness and greed almost led to the end of my life. 'Twelve strangers verified that Lori must be held accountable. I did not enjoy sitting and giving someone who tried to kill me the chance to question me. But I owed it to Charles, to Tylee, to J.J., and to Tammy to speak — because I could.' Vallow Daybell isn't an lawyer but chose to defend herself at both trials in Arizona. 1:55 Lori Vallow Daybell, mom who killed her kids, handed 3 life sentences without possibility of parole Despite multiple guilty convictions, Vallow Daybell has denied any wrongdoing in the murders and believes she'll be 'exonerated.' Story continues below advertisement In March, Vallow Daybell sat down with NBC Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison to discuss her plans for the future. 'We will both be exonerated in the future,' Vallow Daybell said of her and Daybell in the episode, titled, Lori Vallow Daybell: The Jailhouse Interview. 'The same way I will be exonerated.' When Morrison asked Vallow Daybell to expand on why she believes she will be exonerated, she said, 'I have seen things in the future that Jesus showed me when I was in heaven and we were not in jail. We were not in prison.' 'After I get exonerated, maybe I'll go on Dancing With the Stars,' she continued, 'And you can come.' — With files from Global News' Katie Scott and The Associated Press
