Alarm over AI role in child sexual abuse

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BERLIN: German authorities warned on Tuesday of the “growing influence” of AI and digital technology on the sexual abuse of children, saying in a report that criminal abusers are increasingly using those tools. Sexual abuse of minors is “increasingly shifting to the digital realm,” driving overall statistics “upward”, said Holger Muench, the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). A total of 20,051 minors were victims of sexual abuse in Germany in 2025, compared to 19,344 in 2024, according to the BKA report released on Tuesday. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called it an “alarmingly high” number which still does not take into account “a high volume of unreported cases” that “could significantly exceed what we see in the reported statistics”. Muench said that two worrying trends are emerging, including a rise of cyber-grooming “where minors are targeted and a relationship of trust is deliberately cultivated to facilitate sexual abuse”. Germany has also seen an increase in reports of people watching the abuse of children in real time through online livestreaming, Muench said, with cases skyrocketing from just 25 such cases in 2024 to “more than 250” in 2025. Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2026

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