Baroness Benjamin (LD)

My Lords, I support Amendment 209, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron. I was at the meeting that the noble Lord, Lord Russell, so graphically described. I wish all noble Lords had been there too. If they had been, they too would support this amendment. It makes me weep to think of the harm and damage being done to babies—babies—and young children. It is shocking, and if we do not vote for this amendment, we should be ashamed of ourselves. It might not affect you personally, but you have to care about the millions of children out there who are having to face this abuse. The growth in artificial intelligence tools is exposing children to new and enhanced harms. Perpetrators are using image generators to create hyper-realistic child sexual abuse material that can be used to abuse and extort children, including to financially blackmail young people. Devastatingly, Childline is hearing from more and more children who are experiencing this type of abuse. For example, a 16 year-old boy contacted the charity saying that a girl claiming to be his age made fake sexual images of him and threatened to share them with his friends unless he sent her £200. What is this world coming to, with children being blackmailed like this? Children are speaking about feeling incredibly scared, distressed and isolated in these situations. They are unsure about why it is happening or where to turn for help.