Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 29
29
Accepted
Criminalise use of nudification apps as synthetic NCII and hold platforms accountable.
Recommendation
There is no legitimate reason whatsoever for the use or existence of nudification apps. The Government should ensure that the use of such an app is considered creation of synthetic NCII and therefore also a criminal offence and Ofcom should investigate the sites that offer this functionality. The Government should make sure that search engines and platforms that are found to promote or facilitate the distribution of such apps can be held to account. (Recommendation, Paragraph 136) 57
Government Response Summary
The government states that creating or requesting non-consensual purported intimate images, including those from nudification apps, is a criminal offence as of January 2024, and the Online Safety Act regulates harmful deepfake content on in-scope services. They are actively considering further options to address these tools and will provide an an update.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Government response: Accept The sharing of or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent or reasonable belief in consent is a criminal offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The relevant offences came into force on 31 January 2024. Additionally, the offences of creating and requesting the creation of a purported intimate image of an adult is tech-neutral, covering all such images however they were created, including via use of a ‘nudification’ app. Once these offences come into force, anyone using such an app to create a purported intimate image without consent or reasonable belief in consent will be committing a criminal offence. The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to assess the risk of harm to users from illegal content on their services and implement measures to manage and mitigate this risk. Providers also need to put in place measures to safeguard children. Harmful deepfake content is regulated by the Act where it is shared on an in-scope service and constitutes content which is illegal content, or harmful to children (including pornographic deepfakes). The Government is concerned about the proliferation of AI-enabled products and services (‘nudification apps’) that facilitate the creation of deepfake NCII. In addition to criminalising the creation of purported intimate images without consent or reasonable belief in consent, the Government is actively looking at options to address these tools. This is a complicated issue, and careful consideration is needed to ensure any intervention in this area is effective. We will update the Committee on this in due course.