John Swinney “open to working” with UK Government on deepfakes legislation

The Scottish Government is “open” to adopting Westminster’s policy to make creating sexually explicit deepfake content a criminal offence, the first minister has said.

During FMQs, John Swinney said his government “would engage constructively” and “with urgency” with its UK counterpart to keep up with the AI-powered threat.

He said: “The development of artificial intelligence means that creating such images is easier than ever and a growing problem that we take very seriously. Therefore, we are carefully considering whether specific legislation is required to provide greater protection to those at risk of image-based abuse. This work includes giving consideration to UK Government plans to criminalise the creation of deepfake images extending to Scotland.”

Earlier this month, the UK Government introduced a new offence to tackle the rise in “hyper-realistic” sexual content. Under the new law, those who take non-consensual intimate images or install equipment to create sexually implicit images could face up to two years in jail.

Swinney was urged to take a stand on the matter after Labour MSP Pauline McNeill urged him to “close any loopholes” in Scots law. Currently it is an offence to share or threaten to share intimate images under the Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016. However, producing deepfakes is not a specific offence under the law.

McNeill said the proliferation of sexually explicit content was growing at an “alarming rate” and is “a new frontier of violence against women”. She pointed to research by MyChoice – a campaign groups that takes down online abuse – showing 99 per cent of deepfake images targeted women and girls.

The first minister added: “There is perhaps an opportunity to move at pace because of what the United Kingdom Government has done, and because it has a legislative vehicle available, for us to essentially utilise legislative consent to make urgent progress on that question. I give Pauline McNeill the assurance that the government will engage constructively with the UK Government and with urgency to make sure that that is the case.

“This would require legislative consent and we are open to working with the UK Government on this question.”