Australia Moves to Criminalize Non-Consensual Deepfake Pornography

Australia is set to criminalize the sharing of deepfake pornography without consent, introducing legislation that could lead to jail sentences of up to six years.

The new law, expected to be presented to parliament next week, aims to address the growing concern over digitally created or altered sexually explicit material shared without the subject’s permission.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus emphasized the law’s importance, stating, “Digitally created and altered sexually explicit material that is shared without consent is a damaging and deeply distressing form of abuse.” He highlighted that such material predominantly targets women and girls, causing profound and enduring harm to victims.

The legislation specifies even harsher penalties of up to seven years imprisonment for individuals who create and distribute non-consensual deepfake content. Australia’s move reflects a broader global effort to tackle the issue as countries worldwide confront the challenges posed by the misuse of artificial intelligence in creating realistic yet fraudulent explicit content.

Notably, the proposed offence will apply only to adults, as existing child abuse laws already cover minors. This development follows similar initiatives in other countries, including Britain, which recently announced plans to criminalize the creation of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfake images, with the potential for unlimited fines and imprisonment for widespread distribution.