Canada has changed its law to criminalize the sharing of AI-generated deepfake intimate images, closing a gap that had left victims without protection, CBC News reported. The reform updates the criminal code to reflect a technology that the previous wording simply did not anticipate.
The change was driven by a real case. A woman in Halifax was targeted by a former classmate, who created sexualized deepfakes of her, a situation that exposed how the existing law struggled to deal with synthetic images.
The legal process exposed the loophole. The man was charged with distributing intimate images without consent, but in March a Nova Scotia judge acquitted him, ruling that the synthetic images did not meet the definition of intimate images as it was then written in Canada's criminal code.
The judge was blunt about the limits of the law. Much that is unacceptable is not criminal, she wrote in her decision, adding that the law did not reflect the technology that exists today, a statement that underlined the need for change.
The new law directly answers that concern. It changes the definition of intimate images to include a visual representation that is made by any electronic or mechanical means, including by means of artificial intelligence software, so that fabricated images now fall within the offence.
For the woman at the center of the case, the reform brings mixed feelings. She said she was overjoyed that others will be protected, but that more is needed to truly help women and girls faced with this kind of crime, and with her criminal case closed she is now suing the man who made a deepfake of her.
Experts say the law is only part of the answer. Some have called for an independent regulator where a victim could report that they had found a deepfake of themselves and be offered options, as well as help in pursuing them, alongside more education about the issue.