Victims of deepfake image abuse have called for stronger protection against AI-generated explicit images, as the law criminalising the creation of non-consensual intimate images comes into effect. Campaigners from Stop Image-Based Abuse delivered a petition to Downing Street with more than 73,000 signatures, urging the government to introduce civil routes to justice such as takedown orders for abusive imagery on platforms and devices.
“Today’s a really momentous day,” said Jodie, a victim of deepfake abuse who uses a pseudonym. “We’re really pleased the government has put these amendments into law that will definitely protect more women and girls. They were hard-fought victories by campaigners, particularly the consent-based element of it,” she added.
Jodie, who is in her 20s, discovered images of her being used as deepfake pornography in 2021. She and 15 other women testified against the perpetrator, 26-year-old Alex Woolf, after he posted images of women from social media to porn websites. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 weeks in prison. “I had a really difficult route to getting justice because there simply wasn’t a law that really covered what I felt had been done to me,” said Jodie.
The offence against creating explicit deepfake images was introduced as an amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. While the law received royal assent last July, the offence was not enforced until Friday. Many campaigners, including Jodie, were frustrated by delays. “The delay has caused millions more women to become victims, and they won’t be able to get the justice they desperately want,” she said.
Madelaine Thomas, a sex worker and founder of tech forensics company Image Angel, said the law falls short of protecting sex workers from intimate image abuse. “When commercial sexual images are misused, they’re only seen as a copyright breach. By discounting commercialised intimate image abuse, you are not giving people who are going through absolute hell the opportunity to get the help they need,” she said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Weaponising technology to target and exploit people is completely abhorrent. It’s already illegal to share intimate deepfakes – and as of yesterday, creating them is a criminal offence too. But we’re not stopping there. We’re going after the companies behind these ‘nudification’ apps, banning them outright so we can stop this abuse at source.”
