Sharing deepfake pornography is “the next sexual violence epidemic” facing schools, the author of a book on the spread of online misogyny has told MPs.
Appearing before the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC), Laura Bates said there needs to be statutory guidance for teachers on how to deal with this “very significant issue”.
She said in every UK case she has investigated, schools have “paid thousands of pounds hiring PR firms to focus on damage reputation management”.
However, in terms of supporting girls and taking action against the perpetrators, “nothing has happened”.
She said of deepfake pornography: “It is happening, it’s significant. Female teachers are affected, which often goes unnoticed, and schools are just not equipped to tackle it.
“My suggestion would be this is the next big sexual violence epidemic facing schools and people don’t even know it is going on.”
Deepfakes are pictures, videos or audio clips made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to look or sound real.
While it is illegal to create or share a sexually explicit image of a child, including a deepfake, the technology for making them remains legal.
Asked what more could be done to help schools tackle the issue, Ms Bates said in the cases she is aware of “police investigations are ongoing” .
However, she said she is not suggesting criminalisation of underage boys is the solution and what is needed is education, prevention and regulation.
“It shouldn’t be the case that a 12-year-old boy can easily and freely access tools to create these forms of content in the first place,” she said.
Ms Bates is the founder of the Everyday Sexism project and author of: The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny.
She also called for “very clear guidance” on how schools should respond to this challenge.
She warned of a repeat of failings that have happened previously with intimate image abuse, where girls have been “coerced into sending images of themselves” then punished for taking the image once it has been shared around – but the person spreading the image has not.
Calls to ban ‘nudifying apps’
A government spokesperson told Sky News: “We are reviewing the relationships, sex and health curriculum to look at all modern-day challenges facing children, including that of deepfake porn, and work to ensure children are taught how to build positive, healthy relationships in an age-appropriate way.”
It comes amid mounting concern among MPs and experts about online safety for children, with many wanting the government to go further with its regulations on big tech firms.
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In April, a report by the Children’s Commissioner for England found that nudifying apps are disproportionately targeting girls and young women, with many appearing to work only on female bodies.
The commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, called for an immediate ban on apps that use AI to create naked images of children, saying “there is no positive reason for these to exist”.
Inquiry into the ‘manosphere’
Ms Bates appeared in front of the WEC as part of their inquiry into how the “manosphere” and other online content is fuelling misogyny.
The cross-party group has previously heard how the rise of misogyny in young men in particular is not only affecting female pupils but also female staff, with sexual harassment towards teachers described as “rife”.
On Wednesday’s session, the committee also heard concerns around the rise of the “sex tech industry”, including robots and AI girlfriends, with fears this is having a wider impact on attitudes towards women and girls.
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Sarah Owen, the Labour chair of the WEC, told Sky News she could not pre-empt what recommendations would be made to the government.
But she said there was huge concern around the online radicalisation of young men, adding: “It was a boiling hot room but my blood ran cold at what I was hearing.”
