PM says measure, also applied to deepfake nudes, is needed owing to a ‘national emergency’ of online misogyny

Deepfake nudes and “revenge porn” must be removed from the internet within 48 hours or technology firms risk being blocked in the UK,Keir Starmerhas said, calling it a “national emergency” that the government must confront.

Companies could be fined millions or even blocked altogether if they allow the images to spread or be reposted after victims give notice.

Amendments will be made to the crime and policing bill to also regulate AI chatbots such as X’s Grok, which generated nonconsensual images of women in bikinis or in compromising positions until thegovernment threatened action against Elon Musk’s company.

Writing for the Guardian, Starmer said: “The burden of tackling abuse must no longer fall on victims. It must fall on perpetrators and on the companies that enable harm.”

The prime minister said that institutional misogyny being “woven into the fabric of our institutions” meant the problem had not been taken seriously enough. “Too often, misogyny is excused, minimised or ignored. The arguments of women are dismissed as exaggerated or ‘one-offs’. That culture creates permission,” Starmer wrote.

Government sources said they expected to give the new powers to Ofcom to enforce by the summer and companies will be legally required to remove this content no more than 48 hours after it is flagged to them.

Platforms including social media companies and pornography sites that fail to act could face fines of up to 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue or having their services blocked in the UK.

Victims would be able to flag the images either directly with tech firms or with Ofcom – which would trigger an alert across multiple platforms, according to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Ofcom would be responsible for enforcing the ban on the images, with the aim to remove the onus on victims to need to report the same image potentially thousands of times as it is continually reposted.

Source: Drudge Report