Australian eSafety Commissioner reports 40 percent increase in image-based abuse reports involving children in 2024

The Australian eSafety Commissioner reported on 5 September 2024 that image-based abuse reports involving children under 18 increased by 40 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, with sextortion and non-consensual sharing of intimate images via Snapchat, Instagram and Discord the most common vectors. The data showed that victims aged 14 to 17 represented the largest cohort, and that AI-generated deepfake imagery was increasingly used in coercion and harassment, with 62 percent of reports involving threats to distribute material unless further images or payments were provided.

The reported surge reflects the operational gap between the moment a child shares an image under coercion and the point at which a victim or parent lodges a formal complaint with a regulator: during that interval the harm has already occurred and material may have been further distributed. Real-time detection of the escalation sequence that precedes image sharing, including sustained targeting, pressure language, solicitation requests and threat cues, enables intervention before the coercive exchange is completed, surfacing the child to a parent or authority at the moment the risk crystallises. Guardii's anti-sextortion and anti-CSAM detection modules, which include recognition of AI-generated and deepfake material sharing, operate within the direct-message layer on Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, Roblox and other platforms, flagging the pattern and seriousness of a conversation rather than surveilling content and blocking hostile contact before it reaches the intended victim, closing the intervention window that retrospective reporting leaves open.