(Courtesy: Taylor Swift/Instagram)
Outraged ‘Swifties’ are calling for stiffer consequences after deepfake pornographic images spread online
On Wednesday, images of sexually explicit AI-generated images of pop star Taylor Swift circulated on X (formerly known as Twitter) and caused an outrage from ‘swifties’.
According to CBC, a photo shared by a user was seen more than 45 million times before the account was suspended.
It sparked many people online questioning what are the consequences for sexually explicit AI-generated images.
The Brandon Gonez Show contacted Toronto Police Service asking if there are any laws prohibiting these actions.
“In general, reports involving the non-consensual distribution of intimate images of an adult are reviewed on a case-by-case basis in collaboration with the Crown’s office,” a police spokesperson said.
We also contacted Ryan Handlarski who’s a criminal defence lawyer at RH Criminal Defence who confirmed there are legal consequences for people who create such explicit content.
“It is a criminal offence to publish or distribute an intimate image without a person’s consent,” Handlarski revealed.
“In my view, altering an image using AI to make it nude or pornographic and publishing it could easily lead to a criminal charge contrary to section 162.1 (1) of the Criminal Code,” Handlarski added.
Amid the backlash from online users calling for a crackdown, X’s safety team said in a post, “Our teams are actively removing all identified images and taking appropriate actions against the accounts response for posting them,”
According to section 162.1 (1) of the Criminal Code, Everyone who knowingly publishes, distributes, transmits, sells, makes available or advertise an intimate of a person knowing that the person depicted in the image did not give their consent to that conduct, or being reckless as to whether or not that person gave their consent to that conduct, is guilty.”
Handlarski also said the maximum sentence in Canada after being convicted of this offence is five years.
