The work of the United Kingdom government in addressing one of the biggest national problems, sexually explicit deepfakes, is by introducing new offenses in relation to such activities – concerning the creating and sharing of such harmful images in a bid to curtail production – to parliament by a set of proposed changes. Government Crime and Policing Bill.
This is not a new venture altogether. Similar initiatives were floated under the last Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak as well. But those old initiatives were somewhat limited. They were only applicable in cases where deepfakes were created especially to cause alarm, humiliation, or distress to the person affected.
The proposed Act is intended to extend the definition and reach of these offenses. Such legislation would criminalize taking intimate photographs or videos of someone without his consent. The offenses will take into account the context in which the deepfake was created. It will also be a crime when such an image is created intentionally without the consent and for the purpose of provoking fear; causing distress or embarrassment; or to serve, to gratify, either itself or someone else.
Such actions would draw a severe penalty stalking them, with a maximum of two years’ imprisonment. This echoes a new understanding of the extent to which non-consensual deepfakes may harm victims.
Laws to protect soured parties from deepfakes have been enacted in the US too. For example, in 2024, the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, commonly known as the DEFIANCE Act, came into being. Victims of deepfake technology are aided and safeguarded under this law, and this shows that the issue is currently being looked into around the world.