One in four unconcerned by sexual deepfakes created without consent, survey finds
One in four people think there is nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual deepfakes, or they feel neutral about it, even when the person depicted has not consented, according to a police-commissioned survey.The findings prompted a senior police officer to warn that the use of AI is accelerating an epidemic in violence against women and girls (VAWG), and that technology companies are complicit in this abuse.The survey of 1,700 people commissioned by the office of the police chief scientific adviser found 13% felt there was nothing wrong with creating and sharing sexual or intimate deepfakes – digitally altered content made using AI without consent.A further 12% felt neutral about the moral and legal acceptability of making and sharing such deepfakes.Det Ch Supt Claire Hammond, from the national centre for VAWG and public protection, reminded the public that “sharing intimate images of someone without their consent, whether they are real images or not, is deeply violating”.
Commenting on the survey findings, she said: “The rise of AI technology is accelerating the epidemic of violence against women and girls across the world.Technology companies are complicit in this abuse and have made creating and sharing abusive material as simple as clicking a button, and they have to act now to stop it.”She urged victims of deepfakes to report any images to the police.Hammond said: “This is a serious crime, and we will support you.No one should suffer in silence or shame.
”Creating non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes is a criminal offence under the new Data Act.The report, by the crime and justice consultancy Crest Advisory, found that 7% of respondents had been depicted in a sexual or intimate deepfake.Of these, only 51% had reported it to the police.Among those who told no one, the most commonly cited reasons were embarrassment and uncertainty that the offence would be treated seriously.The data also suggested that men under 45 were likely to find it acceptable to create and share deepfakes.
This group was also more likely to view pornography online and agree with misogynistic views, and feel positively towards AI.But the report said this association of age and gender with such views was weak and it called for further research to explore this apparent association.One in 20 of the respondents admitted they had created deepfakes in the past.More than one in 10 said they would create one in the future.And two-thirds of respondents said they had seen, or might have seen, a deepfake.
The report’s author, Callyane Desroches, head of policy and strategy at Crest Advisory, warned that the creation of deepfakes was “becoming increasingly normalised as the technology to make them becomes cheaper and more accessible”.She added: “While some deepfake content may seem harmless, the vast majority of video content is sexualised – and women are overwhelmingly the targets.“We are deeply concerned about what our research has highlighted – that there is a cohort of young men who actively watch pornography and hold views that align with misogyny who see no harm in viewing, creating and sharing sexual deepfakes of people without their consent.”Cally Jane Beech, an activist who campaigns for better protection for victims of deepfake abuse, said: “We live in very worrying times, the futures of our daughters (and sons) are at stake if we don’t start to take decisive action in the digital space soon.She added: “We are looking at a whole generation of kids who grew up with no safeguards, laws or rules in place about this, and are now seeing the dark ripple effect of that freedom.
“Stopping this starts at home,Education and open conversation need to be reinforced every day if we ever stand a chance of stamping this out,”
The Breakdown | A November to remember: let’s celebrate the good in international rugby
We turn the dial towards whimsy and revisit some of the moments that made the autumn internationals irresistibleSouth Africa and Ireland played out a slugfest for the ages and the discourse has been dominated by yellow cards and flying shoulders to the head. England held off a spirited Argentina to claim their 11th consecutive Test win and it seems all anyone can talk about is some alleged after-the-whistle shoving. Wales and New Zealand traded 11 tries in a ding-dong encounter and yet the narrative is weighed down by caveats concerning fading empires.What, exactly, is the point of Test rugby? Beyond winning World Cups and regional crowns, does this chaotic sport hold any value? A bit of spice elevates almost every dish, sure, but it has felt as if this autumn’s brilliant rugby fare has been smothered in a sauce with a needlessly high Scoville count.So, for all the romantics, for anyone inclined to see their incomplete pint of Guinness as half full, for those who believe that elite rugby has never been more entertaining or more competitive or more interesting, let’s turn the dial towards whimsy and revisit some of the moments that made this autumn irresistible
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Travis Head’s devastating knock gives Australia’s selectors a dilemma
Accidents do not come much happier. Usman Khawaja’s mid-game back problem was annoying for the player and potentially damaging for his team, until it wasn’t. Clearing out the regular dry-powder opener created space in the final stanza of the Perth Test, allowing Travis Head to finish off England with the gory certainty and splatter count of a Mortal Kombat fatality move. Sometimes you mash the buttons and it all just works.Consider an Ashes innings of 123 from 83 balls, on a bouncy pitch where two other players nudged 50, in an effort that did not just win the match, but has sent the opposition into a demoralising tailspin
England asked for CCTV footage of Tom Curry’s alleged tunnel scuffle
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