Campaigners hailed the legislation seeking to ban the creation of intimate images without consent as landing a ‘really important blow’ in the battle against misogyny
A crackdown on deepfake explicit images has passed a major hurdle in the Lords.
Campaigners hailed the legislation seeking to ban the creation of intimate images without consent as landing a “really important blow” in the battle against misogyny. Tory peer Baroness Charlotte Owen, who proposed the move, thanked campaigners and charities for helping “every step of the way”.
Last year peers were told in one instance a victim discovered one of her best friends had sent pictures of her to a forum where sick users created fake sexual images and videos.
Baroness Owen said at the time one website dedicated to sharing such images gets over 13million hits a month. Another processed over 600,000 fake pictures in three weeks, she said. 99% of these images are of women.
While the Bill passed its final hurdle in the House of Lords on Friday it is not expected to go further in its current form due to a lack of government support. Instead Labour has promised to make changes to the Data (Use of Access) Bill based on the proposals put forward by the Tory peer.
Speaking in the Lords on Friday, Baroness Owen said: “I feel very optimistic that the content of this Bill has been addressed and accepted by the Government in a different format.”
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She added: “I hope the Commons will recognise the strength of feeling across this House on deepfake image abuse and I am hopeful that we are one step closer to seeing its end.”
Labour’s Justice minister Lord Frederick Ponsonby said: “I absolutely agree that the government should and does stand with the victims and it’s the victims who are the main beneficiaries for the changes that we’re planning to put through.” Labour peer Lord Mann also praised the Conservative peer for her “courage” in bringing forward the proposals, adding the “country is with her on this”.
The Tory shadow minister in the upper chamber Lord Byron Davies said the legislation proposed “safeguards women from exploitation”. He added: “Non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit images is a modern technology driven disease that has shattered lives and ruined reputations.”
Speaking for the Lib Dems, Lord Tim Clement-Jones said: “This is part of a wider battle against misogyny and Baroness Owen has landed a really important blow in that battle.”
