The British Labour government plans to take stronger action against “sexually explicit” deepfakes. The Ministry of Justice announced that those who create or distribute highly realistic, AI-generated content with explicit sexual references of individuals will be subject to criminal prosecution. Such acts involving these “hyper-realistic images” are generally classified as crimes. The British government aims to send a message that “this abhorrent behavior” will not be tolerated. It also seeks to emphasize “that there is no excuse for creating a sexually explicit deepfake of a person without their consent.”
In principle, it is already a crime in the UK to share an intimate image without consent or to threaten to release it. This includes revenge porn. However, taking such videos or photos without consent is only criminalized under certain circumstances, such as upskirting. This involves secretly photographing or filming under a person’s skirt or dress with discreet phone cameras, often when they are on stairs.
With the planned legal tightening, anyone who takes an intimate image without consent faces up to two years in prison. Installing devices to make intimate recordings without consent can also lead to up to two years in prison. The initiative, which partially revives a proposal from the failed conservative predecessor government in April, focuses on sexually explicit deepfakes with images of adults. Such behavior is already punishable if the image depicts a child or teenager under 18.
Activist Jess Davies, advising the government on the initiative, stated, “The abuse of intimate images is a national emergency.” She noted that women and girls suffer significant, long-term harm as they “completely lose control over their digital footprint.” Alex Davies-Jones, the executive’s victim commissioner, emphasized, “It’s unacceptable that one in three women has been a victim of online abuse. This degrading and repulsive form of chauvinism must not become normalized.”
According to the British revenge porn hotline, image-based abuse through deepfakes has increased by more than 400 percent since 2017. Last year, Channel 4 reported that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was among over 30 British female politicians targeted by a deepfake porn website. The criminal law amendments are part of the government’s crime and policing bill, which is to be introduced to Parliament soon.
In Germany, the Bundesrat aims to make deepfakes clearly punishable, calling for up to 5 years in prison.