The U.K. is preparing to close a gap in its rules on sexually explicit deepfake content by targeting the act of creation itself. The planned change would make it a specific criminal offence to create sexually explicit deepfake images, regardless of whether the person who made them later shares them.
The move builds on measures already in place under the Online Safety Act, which made sharing and threatening to share sexually explicit deepfake content an offence after the law went into force last year. The Ministry of Justice has now announced plans to extend the framework so that those who create the material can also be covered.
What the new deepfake offence would cover
A deepfake is manipulated media, often video or audio, created using AI to make someone appear to say or do something they did not. In this case, the government is focusing on sexually explicit images produced through that kind of manipulation.
The key change is where responsibility begins. Under the existing approach, the legal focus was on sharing the content or threatening to share it. The new plan would make the act of creating sexually explicit deepfake images a specific offence in its own right.
That distinction matters because a person involved in creating the material may not be the same person who later distributes it. The Ministry of Justice said the aim is to make the current rules more holistic, covering creators irrespective of their role in any later sharing.
Why the U.K. is acting now
The previous Conservative U.K. government had detailed similar plans, but the direction was not certain after the new government arrived in July. Labour had pledged in its election manifesto to combat deepfakes more thoroughly.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also been the subject of a deepfake video smear. In that case, his AI-likeness was seen promoting an investment scheme.
The government is presenting the latest proposal as part of a broader response to online abuse. It says sexually explicit deepfake content disproportionately impacts women, and it is treating the issue as connected to violence against women.
"It is unacceptable that one in three women have been victims of online abuse," Parliamentary Under-Secretary Alex Davies-Jones said in a statement. "This demeaning and disgusting form of chauvinism must not become normalised, and as part of our Plan for Change we are bearing down on violence against women – whatever form it takes."
How the proposal fits with existing online safety rules
The Online Safety Act already made sharing and threatening to share sexually explicit deepfake content an offence. The new plan does not replace that approach. Instead, it expands the point at which the law can apply.
In plain terms, the government is moving from a distribution-focused model to one that also captures production. That reflects a basic reality of AI-generated abuse: harm can begin before content is posted publicly, especially when intimate or sexually explicit material is created without consent.
The U.K. is not framing the issue as a general ban on all manipulated media. The announcement described deepfakes broadly as manipulated media, often video or audio, but the planned criminal offence is aimed at sexually explicit content specifically.
Intimate image laws are also set to expand
The government also announced plans to widen existing laws around taking intimate images without consent. At present, those rules are restricted to very specific situations such as upskirting.
Upskirting refers to taking a photograph or video underneath a person's clothes for the purpose of viewing their underwear or genitals/buttocks without their knowledge or consent for sexual gratification or to cause humiliation, distress, or alarm.
Under the planned expansion, someone who installs equipment, such as hidden cameras, for the purpose of taking intimate images could face up to two years in prison. That would broaden the law beyond the narrower situations already covered.
What happens next
The government has not detailed a specific timescale for these changes. It said the measures would be included in the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill, which will be introduced "when parliamentary time allows."
The proposal also lands in a wider international context. The U.S. does not have specific laws in place to counter deepfakes, though several states are pushing for legislation. California is one of them, and Elon Musk's X is suing to prevent the law from coming to fruition.
For the U.K., the immediate direction is clear: sexually explicit deepfake abuse is being treated as a creation problem as well as a sharing problem. If the proposal becomes law, making the material could itself trigger criminal liability, even before any later distribution takes place.