Birmingham Live News reports that Police have issued a warning to parents over the online dangers facing their children every day, from cyber bullying to sexual exploitation.
And here in 2026, AI is only worsening the issues by introducing "content based on their searches," West Mercia Police said.
We are aware of the power of AI and that it can be used in very productive ways by professionals and children but it also has the power to carry out searches that would take hours if you were to undertake them on your own. As its learning algorithms improve this will become and even more powerful tool.
The police report advises that parents need to ensure that Safety settings are in place, including parental controls on all devices, browsers, and Apps to "filter out inappropriate material," the force advised. It also advises that "Set strong privacy settings to make sure personal information is only visible to trusted individuals i.e. “Friends only”. The police also recommends introducing your child to smartphones and other devices gradually in a monitored way before giving them fuller access.
Our Cybertrust Internet Monitoring Project aims to support parents to put such controls in place and to make best use of them within the family.
