Govt bolsters Online Safety Act to curb revenge porn

The UK Government has classified the sharing of so-called revenge porn has as the most serious type of offence under the Online Safety Act.

A change to the legislation will see the sharing of intimate images without consent upgraded to a priority offence under rules due to come into force next year.

Technology Secretary Peter Kyle told PA Media that requiring social media platforms to take more proactive action on revenge porn should “drive behaviour change”.

“What I’m trying to do is, rather than just see action once an offence had been committed and the damage has been done to a victim, is to try and change behaviour that will prevent it happening".

“So once this becomes a priority offence, social media companies and platforms themselves are going to have to take proactive measures to ensure their algorithms and their systems prevent this content from going live in the first place – so that will protect thousands, if not millions, of women in particular, from the degradation, the humiliation and the suffering that goes with this kind of activity."

Tim Cairns, CARE's policy lead on online safety, welcomed the news but said the government needs to go further to tackle other harms caused by online porn:

“While the Government’s tough stance on revenge porn is welcome, this is only one aspect of the harm caused by people who create and share intimate images. With the rise of artificial intelligence, revenge porn has become much more sinister. Apps and websites exist that take a perfectly normal picture of a person fully clothed and turn it into a pornographic image or film. Polling commissioned by CARE found that 8 in 10 UK adults think this technology should be banned.

“The Online Safety Act has made it an offence to share AI-generated images without consent, but people are still permitted to make such images. A person can take a photo of a woman or child on their smartphone and use it to create pornographic material. We see no legitimate reason for this technology to remain legal and accessible by the public and would urge the government to see it blocked. Doing so would enhance the safety and dignity of women and girls.”