Predators who create sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’ could face prosecution as the Government bears down on vile online abuse as part of its mission to make our streets safer.
The proliferation of these hyper-realistic images has grown at an alarming rate, causing devastating harm to victims, particularly women and girls who are often the target.
To tackle this, the government will introduce a new offence meaning perpetrators could be charged for both creating and sharing these images, not only marking a crackdown on this abhorrent behaviour but making it clear there is no excuse for creating a sexually explicit deepfake of someone without their consent.
The Government will also create new offences for the taking of intimate images without consent and the installation of equipment with intent to commit these offences – sending a clear message that abusers will face the full force of the law. Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones said:
“It is unacceptable that one in three women have been victims of online abuse. This demeaning and disgusting form of chauvinism must not become normalised, and as part of our Plan for Change we are bearing down on violence against women – whatever form it takes.
These new offences will help prevent people being victimised online. We are putting offenders on notice – they will face the full force of the law.”
While it is already an offence to share – or threaten to share – an intimate image without consent, it is only an offence to take an image without consent in certain circumstances, such as upskirting.
Under the new offences, anyone who takes an intimate image without consent faces up to two years’ custody. Those who install equipment so that they, or someone else, can take intimate images without consent also face up to two years behind bars.
The move delivers on the Government’s manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes as well as recommendations from the Law Commission relating to intimate images.
Alongside existing offences of sharing intimate images without consent, this will give law enforcement a holistic package of offences to effectively tackle non-consensual intimate image abuse. Baroness Jones, Technology Minister, said:
“The rise of intimate image abuse is a horrifying trend that exploits victims and perpetuates a toxic online culture. These acts are not just cowardly, they are deeply damaging, particularly for women and girls who are disproportionately targeted.
With these new measures, we’re sending an unequivocal message: creating or sharing these vile images is not only unacceptable but criminal. Tech companies need to step up too – platforms hosting this content will face tougher scrutiny and significant penalties.”
These new offences follow the Government’s action in September 2024 to add sharing intimate image offences as priority offences under the Online Safety Act. This put the onus on platforms to root out and remove this type of content – or face enforcement action from Ofcom. Alexandra Williams, Public Affairs and Campaign Manager at Women’s Aid, said:
“Intimate image-based abuse is a deeply violating form of abuse, which has a profound impact on the safety and wellbeing of survivors. This form of abuse can manifest in many ways but one area that is often overlooked is AI-generated intimate images, or ‘deepfakes’. Women’s Aid is pleased to see that the Government are taking their response to this form of abuse further and welcomes the criminalisation of creating sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’.
Survivors will often not know that intimate images have been taken or created of them until a perpetrator shares them online, with friends and family, or threatens to do so. Both the criminalisation of generating AI-intimate images and the creation and a new offence which will make it a crime to take intimate images without consent will help tackle this form of abuse at the source, protecting women and girls from the harm that intimate image sharing, threatened or actual, causes.
For protections and justice for survivors to be ensured with these changes, the criminal justice system needs to engage with specialist organisations in the Violence Against Women and Girls Sector, so that police and other agencies are given the trauma-informed and expert training they need to respond appropriately to this form of abuse. The proper implementation and enforcement of these changes is essential to not only curbing intimate image-based abuse, but also for addressing the rapid spread of misogyny and online abuse we’ve seen in recent years.
Alongside these changes, the upcoming Ofcom guidance must be as robust as possible and properly enforced, so social media companies not doing their duty to protect women and girls are held to account. We look forward to working with the Government and Ofcom on these issues.”
