Australia has announced plans to ban apps used for stalking and creating deepfake nudes.
Tech platforms will be responsible for preventing access to “nudify” and undetectable online stalking tools under the reforms announced on Tuesday by the Australian government.
Minister for Communications Anika Wells said Australia would work with firms to stamp out “abhorrent technologies” while ensuring “legitimate and consent-based” artificial intelligence (AI) and online tracking services were not adversely affected.
“Abusive technologies are widely and easily accessible and are causing real and irreparable damage now,” Wells said in a statement.
“These new, evolving, technologies require a new, proactive, approach to harm prevention – and we’ll work closely with industry to achieve this.”
“While this move won’t eliminate the problem of abusive technology in one fell swoop, alongside existing laws and our world-leading online safety reforms, it will make a real difference in protecting Australians,” she added.
The use of AI to create sexually explicit images of people without their consent has been a growing concern amid the proliferation of platforms capable of creating photo-realistic material at the click of a mouse.
In a survey of 1,200 young people carried out by the United States-based advocacy group Thorn last year, 10 percent of respondents reported personally knowing someone who had deepfake nude imagery created of them, while 6 percent said they had been a direct victim of such abuse.
Australia has introduced a series of sweeping legal reforms aimed at curbing online harm in recent years, including the world’s first ban on social media use by minors.
Under the ban set to take effect by the end of the year, social media platforms will face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32m) if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to prevent under-16s from creating or keeping an account.
