Scottish Government proposes criminalising intimate deepfake creation

Criminalising the creation of AI-generated intimate images has been proposed as part of a series of reforms aimed to tackling violence against women and girls.

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation which includes plans for new laws around the creation of intimate images without consent using artificial intelligence tools, including criminalising tools solely designed for that purpose.

Justice secretary Angela Constance said: “Violence against women and girls is abhorrent and we must ensure we are doing all we can to tackle it, whether it is established or emerging forms of harm.”

The sharing of deepfake intimate images is already illegal but these plans would see creators criminalised as well.

It comes after serious concerns have been raised about the use of Grok, social media website X’s AI tool, to create explicit deepfakes of women and children.

Last month, the UK Government confirmed it would bring in a new law to make it illegal to create non-consensual intimate images.

And earlier this month, the information commissioner launched an investigation into Grok over its use of personal data to produce sexualised images and videos.

Speaking to Labour MPs last month, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said X could lose the “right to self-regulate” if it did not tackle the issue.

The Scottish Government’s proposal is one measure within a broader consultation on improving protections for women and girls.

Other measures being consulted on include creating a new statutory aggravator for domestic abuse offences when a victim is pregnant and making the imposition of non-harassment orders available to the Crown Office as an alternative to prosecution.

It also seeks views on how to improve protections against spiking crimes and whether new criminal laws are needed to deal with non-fatal strangulation.

First Minister John Swinney has previously said the government would consider making non-fatal strangulation an offence following pressure by female MSPs.

Scotland is currently the only part of the UK in which choking is not a specific crime. Any cases can be prosecuted under the crime of assault, which carries a potential sentence of life imprisonment.