Senate passes law targeting non-consensual deepfake porn

People creating and sharing non-consensual deepfake pornography will face tough new penalties after legislation passed the Senate.

The Senate has passed a government bill targeting the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake pornography, clearing the way for tough new criminal penalties for offenders. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

The Senate has passed a government Bill targeting the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake pornography, clearing the way for tough new criminal penalties for offenders.

A deepfake is digitally created or generated content that can portray someone doing something that never happened.

The Bill, which received bipartisan support in a committee review, could result in people convicted of creating the material getting jailed for up to seven years.

“Digitally created and altered sexually explicit material that is shared without consent is a damaging and deeply distressing form of abuse,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement on Wednesday.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says the new Bill will address an insidious form of abuse. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“This insidious behaviour can be a method of degrading, humiliating and dehumanising victims.

“Such acts are overwhelmingly targeted towards women and girls, perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes and contributing to gender-based violence.”

The legislation is widely seen as retrofitting existing legislation to deal with the age of AI, which has made the creation of deepfake material easier and increasingly realistic.

But it also introduces an aggravated criminal offence explicitly targeting those who create sexually explicit deepfake content specifically for non-consensual sharing online.

“These offences are now subject to serious criminal penalties of up to six years imprisonment for sharing of non-consensual deepfake sexually explicit material,” Mr Dreyfus said.

The Senate has passed a government bill targeting the creation and distribution of non-consensual deepfake pornography, clearing the way for tough new criminal penalties for offenders. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

“Where the person also created the deepfake that is shared without consent, there is an aggravated offence which carries a higher penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.”

The new laws come as the federal government attempts to counter a rise in social media influencers spouting misogynistic views.

The government announced in May a new stage of its Stop it at the Start campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the harmful views and content floating around online, and encourage parents to talk with their children about it.

Originally published as Senate passes law targeting non-consensual deepfake porn