Lord Bassam of Brighton urged the government to do more to crack down on deepfake porn, nudify apps and similar abuse of advances in AI (artificial intelligence).
He was speaking in a debate initiated by Charlotte Owen, who sits in the House of Lords as Baroness Owen of Alderly Edge.
She was the youngest life peer until this month and told the Lords that deepfake porn “represents a very real threat to all women” if left unchecked.
Baroness Owen warned ministers of a big increase in people using “nudify” apps which allow users to create fake nude images or videos of others – known as deepfakes – through generative AI.
Other peers joined her in calling on the government to do more to prevent the spread of the technology, warning that it could be used to influence elections across the world this year.
The Online Safety Act, which became law in the autumn, made it illegal to share deepfakes without consent.
But Lady Owen, who was nominated for her seat in the Lords by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, called on ministers to take further steps to address their creation.
She told peers: “There has been a huge increase in the use of nudify apps and the creation of deepfake porn since the Law Commission stated that they were less sure that the level of harm caused by the making of these images and videos was serious enough to criminalise.
“Does the minister agree with me that the making of these images and videos without a person’s consent does in fact cause serious harm, regardless of whether a person is aware, and if allowed to continue represents a very real threat to all women?”
Jonathan Berry, known as Viscount Camrose, the Science, Innovation and Technology Minister, replied: “Let me start by acknowledging that the creation, using AI or any other means, of intimate image deepfakes that is abusive is deeply distressing to anyone concerned and really very disturbing to all of us.
“The Law Commission consulted widely on this, looking at the process of taking, making, possessing and sharing deepfakes and their conclusion was that the focus of legislative efforts ought to be on the sharing, which it now is.
“But that said, I think it is a fast-moving space. The capabilities of these tools are growing rapidly and of course, sadly, the number of users is growing rapidly, so we will obviously continue to monitor it.”
Steve Bassam, the former Brighton and Hove council leader who now speaks on science and technology for Labour in the Lords, criticised ministers for failing to heed previous warnings.
Lord Bassam said: “The government have been far too complacent on this issue. During the passage of the then Online Safety Bill, we warned a number of times that, given that this is a fast-moving technology, as the minister says, the government needed to get ahead of the game.
“Given the proliferation of these ghastly images and the appalling impact this has on people’s lives, does the minister now agree that neither the emergence of these apps nor their misuse is surprising?
“If that is the case, why did the government not broaden the scope of their amendments when they had the opportunity to do so?
“Will the minister now look for ways in which we can plug the gaps that are clearly emerging?”
Lord Camrose said: “It is a fast-moving space and that requires an adaptive agile response in legislating for it. That is the approach that we are taking.
“As to the argument that we can now see that it is not working, I am not sure that that is the case. The intimate image abuse offences commenced on 31 January – two weeks ago.
“I am pleased to see that yesterday (Monday 12 February) we had our first cyberflashing conviction under those provisions.
“Using an evidence base, looking forward, we will have to consider carefully what is working before we go ahead and implement further bans.”
Arlene Foster, now Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee, said that deepfakes had already been used in ways that could influence electoral politics.
The DUP peer and former First Minister of Northern Ireland said: “Last Assembly election in Northern Ireland, two female candidates from either side of the community in Northern Ireland were targeted with deepfake porn which was solely designed to damage their chances in that election.
“The minister told us about the number of people who would be going to the polls over the next year.
“Surely, he and indeed the government needs to work with the Electoral Commission to raise this issue because it is a very important issue in democracy for female candidates?”
Lord Camrose said: “I absolutely agree and the instance that she describes is absolutely deplorable.
“The sharing that she describes as a base offence carries up to six months in prison now and if that – as in the case that she put forward – is designed for purposes of malice or indeed of gaining sexual gratification that sentence then goes up to two years. That regime is now live.
“In terms of elections, we have of course set up the defending democracy taskforce with a new unit implemented last year specifically dedicated to safeguarding the election against these kinds of threats.”
I’d rather they concentrate on stopping illegal immigration… stopping the boat loads of fighting age, non christian, foreigners… if you have a moment Lord Bassam…
He was taking part in a debate initiated by a TORY peer.
And the new priority of the Government his morning is mobile phones in classrooms!
Oh and what’s wrong with being a ‘non christian’. More than half the UK population aren’t christians.