To ask the Minister of Justice to outline her proposals for criminalising sexually explicit deepfake images.

Mrs Long

The past few years have seen an exponential rise in the proliferation of non-consensual sexually explicit deepfake images, which research shows are overwhelmingly targeted at women and girls and are yet another form of sexual abuse and exploitation. Those images perpetuate, promote and normalise misogyny and the sexualisation of women. They dehumanise and objectify them. The harm that they cause is incalculable. My aim is to address that growing threat and the harm that it causes. That is why, earlier this year, I announced in the Assembly my intention to table an amendment to the Justice Bill at Consideration Stage to provide for Northern Ireland-specific deepfake offences in order to ensure that all aspects of offending in that area are captured. In July, I launched a public consultation on legislative proposals on that. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, I intend to ensure that all aspects of that despicable behaviour are captured. Specifically, I am seeking views on proposals on criminalising the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images, requesting their creation and sharing and threatening to share such an image. I believe that those proposed offences would cover the full range of the abhorrent behaviours that are associated with such images. I am also seeking views on the inclusion of specific motivations that will include situations in which a person is carrying out the behaviour to humiliate, alarm or distress the person who is depicted in the image or for the purpose of sexual gratification. That distinction is important to identify those who pose a risk of future sexual harm. Where sexual gratification is proven, risk management measures, such as the requirement to notify police, would be applied. The proposed offences would provide further protections and add significantly to the suite of measures that are already in place to protect people from intolerable sexually motivated behaviours and to eradicate violence against women and girls. The consultation closes on 6 October, and I encourage Members and the public to respond.

Mrs Long

Members will know that I have been committed to strengthening the law where possible to try to stop those blights on our society. In the previous Assembly mandate, I introduced a new domestic abuse offence that marked a step change by capturing controlling coercive behaviour and psychological, emotional or financial abuse. I also introduced new offences of stalking, upskirting, downblousing, cyberflashing and four new offences to tackle adults who pretend to be a child with a view to sexual grooming. I also created a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation to provide greater protection against behaviour that is often abused by abusers to exert control and create fear, serving as a precursor for further violence and closely linked to domestic homicide. I believe that those offences have added real, tangible and valuable protections against sexual abuse and violence. However, I do not believe that we can stand still on those issues, so the law is being further strengthened by a number of provisions in the UK Crime and Policing Bill, which is making its way through Westminster. The Assembly agreed the first of two intended legislative consent motions (LCMs) on that on 23 June. I also want to look at the provision that amends the current offence of possession of a paedophile manual. That provision is in section 79 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 and extends to Northern Ireland. A new provision of the possession of, advice on or guidance about creating sexual abuse images will also plug a gap by bringing AI-generated images within the scope of the offence. There are a number of other things that I hope to do, but time will not allow me to do them all.

Ms Forsythe

I thank the Minister for her answers and for her work in the area. As someone who was a victim of a deepfake some three and a half years ago, I welcome the opportunity to work with the Minister on a number of round-table discussions to take things forward on that. As I said, that happened three and a half years ago. It is hard to believe that it is so long ago, but it opened my eyes to how much the PSNI's hands are tied by the limitations in the law on making prosecutions on electronic offences, and it made me particularly concerned for my children and other children when thinking about the safeguards that will be in place when fake images go into mass circulation. What is the Minister's view on how we can keep the law up to date in the digital age?

Mrs Long

There are a number of elements to that. First and foremost, there was a significant delay when the Assembly was not here, and that created problems. The deepfake image offence was originally to be brought forward as part of the Crime and Policing Bill that is going through Westminster — we would have simply piggybacked on those offences — but, unfortunately, it was moved as an amendment to a different Bill earlier in the mandate, and, because it was an amendment, we were unable to avail ourselves of it. That is why the Committee graciously said that we could take a further amendment through at Consideration Stage. The law is one part of it, but the removal of the material is the other part. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, there is a requirement on hosts of sites on which images and other material have been posted to remove it quickly. It does not provide a definition of "quickly". As the Member will know, that is Westminster legislation, because it relates to communication offences, but Ofcom is working on defining what speedy removal is and how it should be undertaken. That should help with protection. Undoubtedly, there is a genuine fear about the increase in the sophistication of the images. They are not what they used to be, with the rather sad cut-and-paste things that you could identify by eye. Most of the images are almost unidentifiable from a real image by the naked eye. There are also issues around AI-generated child pornography, for example, which have raised concerns. Thankfully, those are already covered in legislation, because they do not need to be images of real sexual abuse in order to qualify as images of sexual abuse. However, there is a need for us to refresh the law, constantly. There is also an issue of resource, because, as things become more complex, the amount of time that it takes to research and investigate those crimes becomes more complex. My recent visit to the cybercrime centre showed how there have been developments in that space that are allowing the police to speed up their investigations.

Mr McNulty

The Minister may have answered some of my question. There is an expectation of regulation, enforcement and adherence to reasonable standards from social media companies, in particular. What discussions has the Minister had with the technology firms, particularly international firms, about improving their inadequate response to the posting of explicit deepfake images on social media?

Mrs Long

The issues that the Member refers to fall into the reserved space rather than the devolved space. However, I have, obviously, had contact with Ofcom, which is responsible for implementing the Online Safety Act and carrying out oversight of it. I have been engaging directly with Ofcom about our concerns, and I am briefed regularly by it on the work that it is doing to develop codes of practice and guidance for those bodies. I have also raised my concerns with the Home Office directly, because, if there is to be any further tightening of that legislation, which, I know, some of us certainly believe that there could be, particularly around anonymity, it would be for them to take it forward rather than us, because it is a reserved matter. It is something that I am engaged with regularly.