Sharing Deepfakes Will Be A Crime In UK Under New Cyber Security Bill
Under a planned amendment to the UK’s new Cybersecurity Bill, people who share so-called “deepfakes” – graphic photos or videos manipulated to look like a person without their consent – will be among those to be charged for the first time. .and face possible time behind bars.
The UK government has said it will also bring in a package of additional laws to tackle many forms of abusive online behaviour, including the installation of devices, such as hidden cameras, to take or record images of someone without their consent.
These will include so-called “blousing down” – where images are taken down the top of a woman without consent. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said this follows British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge to criminalize the practice, in line with previous steps taken to outlaw “snooping” – or filming a woman’s clothing without permission.
“We must do more to protect women and girls from people who take or manipulate their images to hunt or humiliate them,” said UK Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary Dominic Raab.
“Our change will give the police and prosecutors the power they need to face the law and protect women and girls from this kind of abuse,” he said.
The amendment to the Cyber Security Bill is intended to widen the scope of the current crimes, so that more criminals face prosecution and jail time.
According to official figures, around one in 14 adults in England and Wales have been exposed to the risk of sharing intimate images, with more than 28,000 reports of disclosure of confidential sexual images without consent recorded by police between April 2015 and December 2021.
The MoJ’s latest package of changes follows growing concerns around the world about the misuse of new technologies, including the rise of “deepfakes”.
This usually involves the use of editing software to create and share fake images or videos of a person without their consent, which are often pornographic in nature.
