When explicit AI-generated images of Nell Fisher began circulating online last month, the 14-year-old Stranger Things child actress became the latest victim in a disturbing new frontier of exploitation. Her case isn’t isolated. According to the Internet Watch Foundation’s January 2025 report, AI-generated videos with child sexual abuse material (CSAM) surged by 26,362% in one year; from 13 videos in 2024 to 3,440 in 2025. Webpages hosting such content increased 400%, with celebrity minors becoming primary targets.
Fisher’s digital violation reveals a systemic attack on the innocence of childhood. This is what happens when technological innovation races ahead of moral boundaries. We stand at a precipice that is as much spiritual as it is technological. This is a crossroads where Hollywood’s historical moral compromises intersect with the unchecked power of generative AI.
How Digital Predation Happens
What began with the non-consensual “undressing” of adult women—a violation that should have served as an unmistakable warning—has predictably escalated. The same technology that stripped clothing from adult likenesses is now being weaponized against children. This progression wasn’t unforeseen. It was inevitable. Scripture tells us that every human being is created in the image of God. To use artificial intelligence to strip a child of their dignity is not merely a “controversial use-case” or an unfortunate edge case. It is a direct assault on the sanctity of God’s creation.
The tools enabling this exploitation are disturbingly accessible. Predators have discovered methods to bypass safety protocols on platforms like Grok AI, using carefully crafted prompts to generate explicit imagery of minors. The response from tech leaders has been woefully inadequate. When pressed about Grok AI’s role in generating exploitative content, Elon Musk’s team implemented a $10 monthly paywall as a deterrent. A subscription fee as a safeguard against child exploitation. Is this really the best protection we can offer our children?
An Assault on the Image of God
Sin rarely exists in isolation. It demands more sins to cover up, justify, or fuel the original transgression. This is the fruit of a culture that has replaced the fear of the Lord with the idol of digital gratification. Pornography is now customizable and turbocharged by AI. This is an addiction that shackles the soul, demanding increasingly depraved content to satisfy a heart that has wandered from God’s peace.
“We’re continuously improving our safety measures,” read the company’s statement. Meanwhile, Fisher and countless unnamed minors continue to have their dignity violated in pixels and algorithms.
Consider the weight of Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:6: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” These aren’t gentle suggestions. They’re warnings about the gravity of harming children; warnings our technological age has chosen to ignore in pursuit of innovation and profit.
To call this “content creation” or dismiss it as “artistic expression” is wicked.
The Deception of Platform Neutrality
Tech companies have hidden behind the shield of “neutrality” and “free expression” while their platforms facilitate exploitation. But freedom of speech was never intended to protect the distribution of child abuse material, whether photographed or algorithmically generated.
These platforms can identify and remove copyrighted material within hours using sophisticated detection systems, yet struggle to prevent the sexual exploitation of minors. The priorities are clear, they’re not about protecting children. The architects of these systems face a choice that Isaiah confronted millennia ago: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20). Corporate profit can never justify the corruption of a child or the loss of souls.
Yet here we stand, watching tech leaders place financial gain above basic human dignity, innovation above innocence. They do it for the likes.
Building Moral Safeguards in Flawed Systems
The current AI race reflects a “Wild West” mentality that ignores the inherent fallen nature of humanity. If AI is made by humans, it will inevitably reflect human flaws. Because the human heart is, as Jeremiah tells us, “deceitful above all things,” developers carry a moral obligation to build protective boundaries into their code, digital safeguards that reflect respect for human life and dignity.
The question before us is glaring: Will we stand with corporations claiming technological “neutrality” at the cost of standing against Truth? To reclaim a righteous future, we must move beyond playing politics, destroy these altars and return to fundamental biblical principles:
Cultural Repentance: We must stop normalizing the sexualization of children and return to a culture that treasures childhood as a gift from God. Protecting children will require losing the “applause of the world.” That’s a trade worth making.
Absolute Technical Safeguards: AI models must be hardcoded with non-negotiable blocks against generating explicit content involving minors. Not paywalls. Not content warnings. Absolute prevention at the code level. Microsoft’s PhotoDNA technology proves this is possible—it’s been identifying and blocking child exploitation material for over a decade. The technology exists. The will does not.
Institutional Accountability: Platforms must face consequences that exceed their profits from exploitation. Civil liability for platforming AI-generated CSAM, mandatory reporting requirements, and criminal penalties for executives who knowingly enable abuse. The scorecard must prioritize protecting the innocent over quarterly earnings.
Theological Clarity: Churches must speak clearly about the spiritual dangers of pornography and digital exploitation. Now is not the time for complicit silence. Our pulpits should thunder with the same moral clarity that confronted slavery, that challenged oppression, that defends life.
Taking Children Off the Altar
The war against digital predators is ultimately a fight for the soul of our society. As we navigate this technological frontier, we must find the courage to hold fast to Truth, refusing to let the demonic “powers that be” remain silent while the innocent are sacrificed.
We cannot stand idly by as the digital architects of this age build new high places of depravity, laying the dignity of our children upon the altars of predatory AI for a handful of silver.
Nell Fisher didn’t choose to become a test case for AI’s moral failures. She was thrust into this role by predators using tools that Big-Tech deemed too profitable to properly restrict. How many more children will be violated before we demand change?
It is time to reach into the heart of this digital Gomorrah and remove our children from those altars, shielding them from a culture of nastiness that reaps profit from sexual exploitation. We do this knowing that in God’s economy, the builders who rejected the moral cornerstone will eventually face a divine reckoning that no algorithm can manipulate.
The technology will advance. That’s certain. The question is whether our moral courage will advance with it, or whether we’ll stand before God one day and explain why protecting innovation mattered more than protecting His children.
The choice, mercifully, is still ours to make.