First seen in 2017, Deepfake Porn is spreading in Quebec. Indeed, teenagers from a high school in Sainte-Thérèse in the Laurentians region were arrested by police in March 2024 for distributing pornographic images of their classmates on social networks; these images were generated by artificial intelligence (AI). Young people face a variety of offenses that could be dealt with under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
What are we talking about?
Deepfake Porn includes videos, images and other elements created by AI that are so believable they seem real. A U.S. study showed that 96 % of Deepfake Porn videos online offered non-consensual pornography i. These videos objectify women's bodies and can be used for revenge porn or sextortion. Now, with elementary computer skills, it's possible to create Deepfake Porn from a photo or video of friends or classmates engaged in fabricated sex scenes ii. A new digital weapon has thus been created, and its victims are mainly young girls, women and children, whose privacy and reputation are violated for a long time, given the difficulty of getting these images and videos removed from the digital universe iii.
Child pornography is a crime
After tampering with images and videos of politicians and international female stars such as Taylor Swift and Emma Watson, the creators of Deepfake Porn have turned their attention to young people aged 17 and under, producing child pornography. Yet child pornography has been banned since 1993 by Canadian society, which believes that people aged 17 and under should be protected, not only as victims used in production, but also as viewers of explicit sexual activity. Indeed, young people are considered by law to be vulnerable and unable to give free, informed and ongoing consent to such sexual behavior. According to the Canadian Criminal Code, the production (s. 163.1 (2)) and distribution (s. 163.1 (3)) of child pornography are criminal acts punishable by a maximum of 14 years' imprisonment and a minimum sentence of one year.
From 2006 to 2022, Statistics Canada data show that sexual offences committed by young people against other young people increased the most, by 24,850 %, from 4 to 998 young people charged. Of these, 579 were charged with producing and distributing child pornography, and 458 were charged with non-consensual distribution of intimate images iv.
A worrying new phenomenon
In December 2023, Radio-Canada's program Les décrypteurs devoted a report to this new phenomenon: “Porno non consensuelle générée par IA : une explosion en popularité qui inquiète”. It explains that “sites that allow anyone in a photo to be denuded, with just a few clicks and without consent, using AI are experiencing an explosion in popularity.” v. Journalists explain how these sites operate, and specialists discuss the laws that are not respected and the possible remedies for victims of this non-consensual AI-generated pornography. They consider that children and teenagers are vulnerable to this new phenomenon.
What are the motivations of the producers of Deepfake Porn?
For their part, American scientists reveal that the motivations of producers of Deepfake Porn are humiliation, extortion and harassment of their victims, or the possibility of initiating and satisfying their own sexual arousal. Other factors include curiosity, compulsion or a specific sexual interest, as well as revenge against an ex-girlfriend vi. It may also be a question of asserting one's masculine identity, of dominating girls and women through AI, and of one's power to make and break reputations vii.
Nonetheless, researchers have identified a number of negative effects for producers of Deepfake Porn: the appearance of cognitive distortions between the real and the virtual, guilt towards victims, and paranoid personality disorder when their productions are disseminated on the Internet viii. It also seems that the producers of Deepfake Porn are well aware of the illegality of their actions. Adolescents run the risk of receiving an extrajudicial measure and/or sanction and/or having to stand trial ix. Finally, we highlight their fear of having their photo used in gay Deepfake Porn when they are heterosexual, their fear of losing their reputation with friends and classmates as well as the fear that their contribution to the sexualization of virtual space will lead to real sexual crimes x.
How much harm do victims of Deepfake Porn suffer?
According to U.S. scientists, 99 % of the victims of Deepfake Porn are female. Several negative effects have been identified. Victims who have not consented to the production of such images or videos speak of an intrusion into their sexual intimacy. They feel virtually violated. Some feel that every aspect of their lives has been affected. They suffer from anxiety, depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress, irrational and visceral fears, including those of losing their jobs and suffering sexual violence. For many, it's a devastating experience that has led them to quit social networking to avoid being victimized again. Finally, many feel isolated, frightened, dehumanized and, above all, powerless in the face of this endless battle that they can't win no matter what they do in this virtual universe controlled by boys and men.
Resources to consult
If you are a victim of pornography, deepfake or not, created and distributed without your consent, don't hesitate to call on the following resources:
Cyberaide.ca: https://cyberaide.ca/fr/
Please help me: https://aidezmoisvp.ca/fr/
Canadian Centre for Child Protection: https://protegeonsnosenfants.ca/fr/
In addition, the Quebec government has adopted a new legal recourse enabling individuals to prevent or stop the sharing of intimate images or videos without consent. Bill 73, An Act to counter the sharing of intimate images without consent and to improve civil protection and support for victims of violence, was tabled in November 2024 xi. To be continued...
i Ratner, C. (2021). http://doi:10.1111/fcre.12576
ii Harris, D. (2019). https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dltr/vol17/iss1/4/
iii Pechenik Gieseke, A. (2020). https://www.proquest.com/docview/2454190545?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
iv Jutras, J. (2024). https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/SECU/Brief/BR12926021/br-external/JutrasJohanne-Revised-f.pdf.
v Yates, J. & De Lancer, A. (2023), p. 1. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2031358/pornographie-non-consensuelle-intelligence-artificielle
vi Harris, D. (2019). https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dltr/vol17/iss1/4/
vii Brieger, A. R. (2024), p.15. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1873192&dswid=7645
viii Brieger, A. R. (2024), p. 15. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1873192&dswid=7645
ix Éducaloi (2024), p. 6. https://educaloi.qc.ca/capsules/adolescent-et-infraction-criminelle-plusieurs-suites-possibles/
x Brieger, A. R. (2024), p. 48, https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1873192&dswid=7645
xi Assemblée nationale du Québec (2024). https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/projet-de-loi-no-73-adopte-a-lunanimite-une-meilleure-protection-pour-les-personnes-victimes-notamment-en-cas-de-partage-dimages-intimes-sans-consentement-59861
