Anthony Rotondo: Deep fake pornography case hits snag in Federal Court
A landmark Federal Court action against a man accused of publishing deep fake portographic images of Brisbane private school students and staff has hit a snag.
QLD News
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The eSafety Commissioner’s landmark Federal Court action against a man accused of publishing deep fake pornography online has stalled after he was admitted to a high security mental health facility.
Anthony Rotondo, who also goes by Antonio, was arrested in October and charged with creating and distributing deep fake images of Australian public figures and students and teachers from a Brisbane private school. He is yet to enter a plea.
Those criminal charges are still progressing through the magistrates court, however he is facing additional civil action by the eSafety Commissioner in the Federal Court.
During a mention of the matter on Monday, barrister Marc McKechnie, instructed by the Australian Government Solicitor for the commissioner, asked the case be stayed for a short period of time.
He said Rotondo, who had been remanded in custody after his arrest, had since been moved to The Park high security mental health facility.
He said the civil matter had been listed to proceed to mediation but asked that the case be adjourned for three months in light of Rotondo’s move to The Park.
While living in the Philippines in May last year, he was issued with a notice ordering him to remove the alleged deep fake pornography but refused, replying by email: “I am not a resident of Australia. The removal notice means nothing to me. Get an arrest warrant if you think you are right.”, according to a judgment of the court.
When he returned to Australia in October, the Commissioner launched civil action against Rotondo in the Federal Court and sought orders for him to remove images from the internet.
He was ultimately arrested and detained on state charges including five counts of obscene publications and exhibitions.
Rotondo appeared in the Federal Court court via video link from the facility on Monday and consented to the three month adjournment.
The civil case was adjourned to May and the Magistrates Court criminal charges are next listed for mention in March.
Deep fakes are digitally manipulated images and videos in which a person’s likeness is depicted in circumstances that never existed.
A person’s face can be imposed on images, such as pornography, to create false or misleading images.
Originally published as Anthony Rotondo: Deep fake pornography case hits snag in Federal Court
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