Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had discussions with the Science and Technology Facilities Council on their approach to supporting research into (a) detecting, (b) preventing and (c) removing child sexual abuse images created by generative Artificial Intelligence since July 2024.

The government has regular meetings with research and business organisations on matters relating to online safety and AI. The Online Safety Act places duties on platforms to proactively detect, prevent and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM), including CSAM content created using AI technology. Ofcom has set out steps providers can take for these duties in draft codes of practice and will develop these iteratively. These steps include measures to detect, prevent and remove CSAM. The Act requires Ofcom to consult extensively when drafting its codes and Ofcom has an ongoing programme of research. The first code is due to come into force in Spring 2025.