New Zealand Moves to Criminalise Sexualised Deepfakes and Tackle AI Abuse
New Zealand is criminalizing non-consensual sexualised deepfakes to combat AI-driven exploitation. While this legal step is significant, experts emphasize that addressing the root cause requires stricter regulation of high-risk AI apps and enhanced safety guardrails to effectively protect individuals from synthetic sexual harm.
Highlights
- •New Zealand is passing the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill to criminalize non-consensual sexualised deepfakes.
- •Research indicates that 98% of deepfake videos online are pornographic, with the vast majority targeting women and girls.
- •Existing laws, including the Harmful Digital Communications Act, often fail to address the unique challenges posed by synthetic, AI-generated imagery.
- •Experts advocate for stricter regulation of high-risk 'nudify' apps and mandatory safety guardrails in AI systems beyond just criminal prosecution.
New Zealand is taking decisive action to combat the growing prevalence of sexualised deepfakes by criminalizing the unauthorized creation and distribution of this harmful digital material. As generative artificial intelligence makes it easier than ever to produce non-consensual explicit imagery, policymakers are moving to update legislation to protect citizens from this modern form of exploitation.
Addressing the Rise of Sexualised Deepfakes
The proposed Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill is currently advancing through its first reading in the New Zealand parliament, garnering support across the political spectrum. This vital legislation seeks to make it a criminal offense to create, sell, or disseminate sexually explicit deepfakes without the consent of the individuals depicted. The move comes as global concerns mount over the rapid proliferation of synthetic media, including reports of millions of offensive images being generated through AI platforms like Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot on X.
While New Zealand is a relatively recent addition to the global effort to address this issue, nations such as the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, and the United States have already implemented or expanded legal frameworks to penalize the creation of non-consensual deepfakes. However, experts argue that criminalization alone is only the first step. Because sexualised deepfakes predominantly target women, causing profound emotional distress, humiliation, and a violation of sexual autonomy, there is an urgent need for comprehensive regulation of the technology itself.
Regulating High-Risk Technology
Current legal systems often struggle to keep pace with rapid technological advancements. Previous laws, such as the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, were not designed for the complexities of AI-generated abuse, and proving the intent to cause distress can be a significant hurdle for victims. The new bill aims to bridge these gaps by broadening the legal definition of an “intimate visual recording” to encompass images that have been synthetically created or altered.
Nevertheless, reliance on the criminal justice system as a purely reactive measure is insufficient. Tools capable of generating sexualised deepfakes, often marketed as “nudify” or face-swap applications, are becoming increasingly accessible. Despite app store policies prohibiting such content, these tools are often disguised to evade detection. To meaningfully protect the public, New Zealand should consider following the lead of Australia and the European Union by implementing targeted bans on high-risk nudification apps. Furthermore, authorities may need to establish a robust regulatory framework that includes mandatory safety guardrails for image-generation systems and increased transparency regarding the datasets used to train AI models. Moving beyond criminal law is essential to securing digital safety in the age of generative artificial intelligence.
