Baroness Owen has described the increase of sexually explicit deepfakes as “inherently sexist and rapidly proliferating”.
The Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] would amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to create offences related to the taking or soliciting of a sexually explicit photograph or film, where the person in it does not consent and the offender does not reasonably believe that the person consents.
The bill includes digitally produced content. The offender would be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of six months or a fine (or both). The court could also require them to delete any copies of the images.
The Online Safety Act 2023 added new offences to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, making it illegal to share or threaten to share intimate images—including deepfakes—of those depicted without their consent. The previous government intended to add further related offences to the statute through the Criminal Justice Bill. These would have included an offence of taking an intimate image or making a deepfake intimate image of another person without their consent. Labour supported these measures. However, the bill fell at dissolution 2024.
Banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes was a Labour manifesto commitment. The government has said it is considering what further legislative measures may be needed to strengthen the law on taking intimate images without consent.
