UK Regulator Updates Codes of Practice
Britain's top communications regulator, Ofcom, has announced that it will be updating its codes of practice to require tech companies to do more to find and remove non-consensual intimate images from their sites and to curb the spread of deepfakes created by artificial intelligence.
The changes, which are expected to take effect this autumn pending action from the UK Parliament, are being made due to the "urgent need to better protect women and girls online." Ofcom is recommending that sites and apps use "hash matching" technology more expansively in order to detect the images, which involves converting the images into a digital fingerprint that can be stored in a database to prevent future uploads of the same or similar files.
New Legislation and Fines
The measure, alongside new legislation that bans nudification tools and mandates that non-consensual intimate images be removed within two days, will "make a material difference in protecting women and girls online," according to an Ofcom press release. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that the new law imposing hefty fines for tech firms that don't promptly remove the intimate images is necessary to spare victims from having to make repeated reports to get pictures removed.
Starmer has also warned that tech companies that fail to remove the images within two days could have their services blocked. The British government's focus on the issue comes in the wake of several weeks during which millions of nudified images of non-consenting women and children spread worldwide via xAI's Grok chatbot.
A National Emergency
In a February opinion piece, Starmer deemed the issue a "national emergency." "Victims have been left to fight alone – chasing takedown of harmful content site to site, reporting the same material again and again, only to see it reappear elsewhere hours later," Starmer wrote. "That is not justice."
"We are putting tech companies on notice," he added. "The burden of tackling abuse must no longer fall on victims. It must fall on perpetrators – and on the companies that enable harm."
A Different Path
Ofcom's approach, for now, carves a different path than the one taken by the country's peers. A European Union law that let tech firms search communications for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) expired last month after a long standoff between lawmakers about privacy concerns. Tech giants have said they will continue to scan communications for CSAM, but European Commission officials have said that the practice is against the law.
The UK regulator's decision to require tech firms to tackle deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images is a significant step towards protecting women and girls online. With the new rules taking effect this autumn, tech companies will be held accountable for their role in enabling harm and will be required to take proactive steps to prevent the spread of harmful content.
- Ofcom is updating its codes of practice to require tech companies to find and remove non-consensual intimate images and curb deepfakes.
- The changes are expected to take effect this autumn pending action from the UK Parliament.
- The UK government has introduced new legislation that bans nudification tools and mandates that non-consensual intimate images be removed within two days.
- Tech companies that fail to remove the images within two days could have their services blocked.
The issue of deepfakes and non-consensual intimate images is a complex one, and the UK regulator's decision to require tech firms to tackle it is a significant step towards protecting women and girls online. As the new rules take effect, it will be important to monitor their impact and ensure that tech companies are held accountable for their role in enabling harm.
Source: The Record