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13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 DECEMBER 2024 on child pornography said. "We understand that life is fast-paced, but parents must remain vigilant about their children's online activities. There are ways to monitor and control their internet usage." AI: the latest weapon for child porn producers The officers also explained how Artificial Intelligence (AI) has opened up a new frontier and is being used to produce child pornography. "We are seeing a lot of AI-generated content. We are seeing photos and videos show- ing young children whose faces have been ripped and cropped from normal photos uploaded on social media," Xuereb said. Earlier this year, a 27-year-old man in the UK was jailed for 18 years after creating AI-gen- erated images of child sexual abuse. The convicted man ac- cepted requests from individ- uals via online chatrooms for "bespoke" explicit images de- picting children being harmed both sexually and physically and used pictures of real chil- dren to create some of the computer-generated images, the court heard. The perpetrator frequently discussed child sexual abuse with other chatroom users and, on three separate occasions, encouraged the rape of chil- dren aged under 13. "The images and videos we come across are not perfect, and you notice what is AI-gen- erated and what is not, but we are heading towards perfection. We notice because we zoom in and we know the techniques, but at first glance, you do not notice," Xuereb said. Getting into the mind of the hunter and the hunted During the interview, Sacco and Xuereb were asked to de- scribe the range of emotions displayed by suspects once they were brought into the interro- gation room. "There are some who, once they get caught, are relieved and grateful because they can seek help. There are others who feel they are not doing an- ything wrong. For them, it's the same as if they were attracted to adults. It is okay for them," Sacco said. "We have also seen links be- tween people who suffered sexual abuse when they were young and ended up carrying out that abuse themselves. Not all of them, but we have seen these cases." As parents themselves, both police officers were asked what goes through their minds when they enter an interrogation. "You must remain impartial and enter the interrogation without any prejudice," Xuer- eb said. "You cannot enter the interrogation with any anger. You do not know what the in- terrogation's result will be, and the person in front of you might not be the person you are look- ing for. The suspect might also close up and not give you any information." "You also have to keep in mind that everyone has their rights. Macabre as the crime might be, you have to respect the person's human and legal rights," she went on to say. Is the war being won? Faced with increased in- stances of child pornography reports, advancing technolo- gies, and a lack of legal powers, the police officers were asked whether they feel they are win- ning the war against online child predators. "Our wish is to win this war, but technology is evolving at such a rapid rate that it's a con- stant fight. It is a continuous bat- tle, and if people are a bit more aware and listen to our appeals for safer internet use, it can go such a long way," Xuereb said. Sacco, on the other hand, said the secret to winning the war is the establishment of partner- ships with local and foreign or- ganisations. "We want to continue build- ing networks and relationships with organisations and people. To defeat a network, you need a network," he said. Do you want to report a crime? You can either go to the nearest police station and physically file a report or else you can also file a remote report by going online at https://pulizija. gov.mt/en/file-a-report/ and following the onscreen instructions. Are you a victim of a crime? The National Support Line for crime victims operates seven days a week, including public holidays, from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM. Call on 116006 if you need help. If you prefer written communication, you can send an email to vsasupport@gov.mt. Sergeant Matthew Sacco with Anna Maria Xuereb, who heads the police's Cyber Crime Unit (CCU)