Again in 2022, the European Fee launched a proposal for a directive on methods to fight home violence and violence in opposition to girls in different kinds. Now, the European Council and Parliament have agreed with the proposal to criminalize, amongst different issues, several types of cyber-violence. The proposed guidelines will criminalize the non-consensual sharing of intimate photographs, together with deepfakes made by AI instruments, which may assist deter revenge porn. Cyber-stalking, on-line harassment, misogynous hate speech and “cyber-flashing,” or the sending of unsolicited nudes, can even be acknowledged as felony offenses.
The fee says that having a directive for the entire European Union that particularly addresses these specific acts will assist victims in Member States that have not criminalized them but. “That is an pressing subject to handle, given the exponential unfold and dramatic affect of violence on-line,” it wrote in its announcement. As well as, the directive would require member states to develop measures that may assist customers extra simply determine cyber-violence and to know methods to stop it from taking place if potential or methods to search assist. It’ll require them to supply their residents with a web based portal the place they will ship in reviews, as nicely.
In its reporting, Politico instructed that the latest unfold of pornographic deepfake photographs utilizing Taylor Swift’s face urged EU officers to maneuver ahead with the proposal. In the event you’ll recall, X even needed to briefly block searches for the musician’s title after the photographs went viral. “The most recent disgusting method of humiliating girls is by sharing intimate photographs generated by AI in a few minutes by anyone,” European Fee Vice President Věra Jourová instructed the publication. “Such photos can do enormous hurt, not solely to popstars however to each girl who must show at work or at dwelling that it was a deepfake.” In the mean time, although, the aforementioned guidelines are simply a part of a invoice that representatives of EU member states nonetheless have to approve. “The ultimate legislation can also be pending adoption in Council and European Parliament,” the EU Council stated. In keeping with Politico, if all goes nicely and the invoice turns into a legislation quickly, EU states can have till 2027 to implement the brand new guidelines.