Penalties for those caught in possession of, producing, or disseminating explicit images of actual children versus AI-generated material

Question:

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs whether the Government will legislate differential penalties for those caught in possession of, producing, or disseminating sexually explicit images of actual children versus AI-generated material.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. Possession, production, and dissemination of sexually explicit images of children are offences under the Penal Code. Offenders are liable for mandatory imprisonment and discretionary caning upon conviction.

2. These offences cover computer-generated child abuse material, including AI-generated images of children. In 2025, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) amended the Penal Code to make clear that the Prosecution need not prove that an actual child was used in the production of the computer-generated material. It is an offence so long as the image resembles a real child.

3. MHA does not intend to amend the offences in relation to child abuse material, as the Member seems to propose, to make the penalties for AI-generated child abuse material less severe than those using real children. This expresses our society’s strong stance on protecting children from sexual predation.