Overview
- UNICEF Argentina published the technical guide Thursday, July 9, 2026, telling judges and prosecutors to identify the legal charge quickly, preserve fragile digital evidence, and take measures to identify suspects.
- The guide cites more than 150,000 reports of grooming and online sexual exploitation in Argentina last year and notes that incoming files from the U.S. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children included over 240,000 items tied to more than 437,000 child victims.
- A separate UNICEF regional study found that up to 13% of children in Mexico — about 1.3 million minors — experienced technology‑facilitated sexual abuse in the past year and that only roughly 1% of victims report incidents.
- UNICEF warns that artificial intelligence and deepfakes complicate investigations by creating hyperreal manipulated images and videos, which require new forensic steps to determine whether content was created or altered.
- Reports say digital evidence is often deleted, fragmented or hosted abroad, leaving legal and institutional gaps that demand faster preservation, harmonized laws, platform-by-design safety, and training for prosecutors and police.