Britain plans to criminally charge people who create and share sexually explicit deepfake images to better protect women and girls, a minister said Tuesday.
The government also plans to designate taking intimate images without consent and installing equipment to that end as new offences, with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison, the Ministry of Justice said.
It is already an offence in the UK to share or threaten to share intimate images, including deepfakes. But currently, it is only an offence to create an image without consent in certain circumstances, such as so-called upskirting.
Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones said “there are current gaps” in the law and the government was “broadening” them.
“We’re making it more robust to protect women and girls,” she told Sky News, adding one in three women in the UK were victims of intimate images of them being made or shared.
“It’s awful. It’s horrific. It really, really makes women vulnerable, intimidates them, and these perpetrators of these crimes deserve to feel the full force of the law.”
The justice ministry noted that “hyper-realistic” deepfakes have proliferated at “an alarming rate” in recent years, “causing devastating harm to victims”.
Deepfakes are images generated or edited using artificial intelligence (AI) featuring real people.
Experts warn an online boom in these non-consensual deepfakes is outpacing efforts to regulate the technology globally, with a proliferation of cheap AI tools including photo apps digitally undressing women.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was among more than 30 British female politicians found to be targeted by a deepfake porn website, according to a Channel 4 investigation published last year.
Campaigner Jess Davies welcomed the new laws plan, saying “intimate-image abuse is a national emergency that is causing significant, long-lasting harm”.
The new offences will be included in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill, which the justice ministry said will be unveiled “when parliamentary time allows”.
The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) urged ministers to speed up introducing the plans.
“We are yet to see a timeline for the offence or any details about the new law, which will be crucial to how effective it is,” said Rebecca Hitchen, head of policy and campaigns at EVAW.
“The government must make good on its commitments to survivors — delaying action will only put women and girls in harm’s way.”
AFP
