Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024
Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
The case for criminalising ‘creation’ alone, not just ‘distribution’
We share the Minister’s view that “digitally created and altered sexually explicit material” shared without consent is a “damaging and deeply distressing form of abuse” and degrades, humiliates and dehumanises victims. We support the Government’s proposed criminal penalties.
However, we also believe that creation, not just distribution, should be a stand-alone offence. The harms caused by creation of the image - whether shared or not - warrant more than a year added as an aggravated offence after it is established that the disseminator was also the creator. Creation is a violation of the victim in and of itself.
Professor Clare McGlynn and Ruya Toparlak compare creation of sexually explicit deepfakes with voyeurism, considered a crime even when the victim has no knowledge and the perpetrator does not intend to distribute.
It is our view that the Government should use the full extent of its power to bring about criminalisation of creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, soliciting for such materials and threatening to share it. The creation offence is built in as aggravation of the principal offence, which is the sharing of the image. Creation should be a stand alone offence with its own criminal penalty as well as a combined offence with dissemination.
We urge the Commonwealth to lead on this issue and work collaboratively with States and Territories in the development of a legal framework for uniform laws across Australia penalising creation, soliciting and threats to share.
Read our full submission here.
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