AFA’s Latest Victory and the Critical Step Parents Must Take Next

Protecting children online takes many forms. Some solutions come through legislation; others come from pressuring tech companies to strengthen their safeguards.

Recently, after a year of work and multiple meetings with Apple executives, AFA successfully encouraged the company to implement two major policy changes. There are steps that will help protect millions of children from harmful content on Apple devices. This is a significant victory and one we are deeply grateful for.

On a legislative scale, the Take It Down Act was signed into law in May of 2025. This law made publishing nude or explicit photos of minors a federal crime. This is an incredible win considering the fact that The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received over 440,000 reports of these online crimes against children in the first six months of 2025. That’s just the number of reported instances and a huge jump from the 67,000 reports in 2024.

Yet, even with wins like this, technology, specifically artificial intelligence (AI), continues to advance faster than policymakers or corporations can keep up with. That is why one of the most important, and most often overlooked, layers of protection lies with parents and families themselves.

While we wait and appreciate broader reforms, one simple and powerful step parents can take today is this: stop posting photos of children online.

Sharing online has always come with some risk, but most of us accepted that because it allowed us to share milestones and stay connected. Family photos and lighthearted moments with our kids are part of what makes social media enjoyable. Yet predators have twisted these platforms into something dangerous, forcing well-intentioned parents to reconsider sharing moments as innocent as a toddler’s first words or a child’s first music recital.

As with anything good, the dynamic changes when people with bad intentions show up. It’s the same reason we safeguard our bank accounts and personal data: predators will misuse whatever access they can get.

Until very recently, predators had to actively seek out child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Now they can create it with images they find on, you guessed it, social media. Certain AI tools can generate explicit content using nothing more than a single, innocent photo. A smiling picture of your seven-year-old can be transformed into something harmful in minutes.

There are multiple devastating stories of the harm this has caused worldwide.

Investigations by Australian authorities revealed that many predators’ devices contained mostly photos of fully clothed children. In other words, even photos we once assumed were “safe” no longer are because they’re free content for predators.

In a news story closer to home, a Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to possessing AI-generated CSAM of two children he knew. The man used photos he got from social media to create the explicit content.

These two instances alone justify my earlier statement that, as a society, we should stop posting photos of children online.

Of course, for many families, avoiding social media altogether isn’t realistic. It has become a digital scrapbook, a way to stay connected. If you rely on these platforms to share moments with loved ones, it’s even more important to adopt protective practices that limit how widely your child’s image can be accessed or misused. Here are a few steps that can make a meaningful difference and reduce the risk of the children in your life being exploited online:

Make your account private and limit your friends list to a small circle of trusted people.
Never post photos of children in swimsuits, during potty training, shirtless, or in any state of undress.
Use an emoji or sticker to cover your child’s face before posting.
Consider creating a private blog with limited access that you can share with specific people.

It is entirely reasonable to expect our government and major tech companies to do their part in keeping children safe. But the most immediate responsibility, and the strongest safeguard, rests with parents, grandparents, and loved ones. At AFA, we will continue to advocate for the safety and well-being of children, and together, with your support and thoughtful use of these online safety guidelines, we can work together to create a safer digital world for the next generation.

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