The creation of sexually explicit “deepfake” images is to be made a criminal offence in England and Wales under a new law, the government says.
Under the legislation, anyone making explicit images of an adult without their consent will face a criminal record and unlimited fine.
It will apply regardless of whether the creator of an image intended to share it, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.
And if the image is then shared more widely, they could face jail.
A deepfake is an image or video that has been digitally altered with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to replace the face of one person with the face of another.
For anyone interested in the science, here’s a video from Harvard psychiatrist/instructor Dr. K from HealthyGamerGG going over research on non-consensual pornography (deepfakes, revenge porn, and the like). The most impactful point he makes is, “After non-consensual pornography is released over half of the people who are involved want to kill themselves”. There’s a few minutes more of content for those who want to watch, including talking about increased rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc., especially when the porn goes public.
I’ll admit I used to look at deepfake porn, but I stopped immediately after hearing that and the rest of that video. Not because religion or society disapproves but because I want my entertainment to be consensual and fun - not so destructive that it makes the unwilling participants suicidal more often than not. I think there are ways to do porn properly that involve worker protections, respect, and of course consent. So I think this statute has a pretty solid foundation in severe harm reduction as per the research.
I think it’s harmless to generate and enjoy deepfake porn for your private consumption. I don’t do it because I like my nude women to have ten fingers and toes.
I’m not sure I buy that argument.
There is enough pornography to last you until the heat death of the universe. The only reason you would create your own pornography with people who never consented is because the transgression itself is what is giving the sexual pleasure, not the pornography.
Enjoying something for its transgressive nature doesn’t make something necessarily bad. Neither does that make everything okay, I’m just saying there is nothing inherently wrong with enjoying the transgressiveness of an act more than the act itself.
But this is highly philosophical and any attempt to seriously explain my thoughts (and I made three attempts before just going with this) quickly gets too long, so hopefully we can just agree that there’s room for respectful disagreement.
No, I don’t think there is room for respectful disagreement when one of us is arguing they don’t require sexual consent.
No one consents to featuring in private fantasies.
A private fantasy is a thought. Creating unconsensual pornography is an action.
The longer this conversation continues, the higher your ick factor gets.
Masturbating is an action, too. What’s the qualitative difference between a private image in one’s head and one on a screen?
You seem to struggle with separating a philosophical conversation from whatever icks you. If it assuages your sensibilities I don’t engage in this activity, but only because it’s not arousing to me in any way. I just can’t see any actual difference between a fake image in your head and an equally private image on a screen.
When an image becomes public or harassing I think there is a clear problem. If you want to disagree on where the line is between an image in your head and one used to harm someone, that’s fine. Neither of us is drafting a law here so it’s all just wind and words. Have a good day.
An image in your head isn’t a physical product that exists in the material world.
If it’s a deepfake of a celeb you like, you may likely never get the real thing
Okay, and?
Don’t fake kink shame…