This bill aims to make it illegal to create or solicit sexually explicit or intimate images without the consent of the people in them. This would include deepfake content, where photos or video are digitally manipulated to make a person appear to be in an intimate situation. The government has said that banning the creation of non-consensual explicit deepfake content is a priority.
Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] (335 KB , PDF)
Baroness Owen has described the increase of sexually explicit deepfakes as “inherently sexist and rapidly proliferating”.
The Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] would amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to create offences related to the taking or soliciting of a sexually explicit photograph or film, where the person in it does not consent and the offender does not reasonably believe that the person consents.
The bill includes digitally produced content. The offender would be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of six months or a fine (or both). The court could also require them to delete any copies of the images.
The Online Safety Act 2023 added new offences to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, making it illegal to share or threaten to share intimate images—including deepfakes—of those depicted without their consent. The previous government intended to add further related offences to the statute through the Criminal Justice Bill. These would have included an offence of taking an intimate image or making a deepfake intimate image of another person without their consent. Labour supported these measures. However, the bill fell at dissolution 2024.
Banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes was a Labour manifesto commitment. The government has said it is considering what further legislative measures may be needed to strengthen the law on taking intimate images without consent.
Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] (335 KB , PDF)
An estimated 2.3 million people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2024. Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs has raised concerns about inconsistent support for victims and survivors and has called for urgent reform. The government has recently announced several policies aimed at enhancing this support, including a pilot of ‘domestic abuse protection notices’ and ‘domestic abuse protection orders’.
Reported retail crime has increased significantly in recent years. This criminal activity, encompassing offences such as shoplifting and assaults on retail workers, has impacted businesses, their employees and local economies. The government has outlined plans to tackle retail crime in response to this issue. This includes legislating to create a new specific offence of assaulting a retail worker and to remove the threshold on so-called “low-value” shoplifting offences.
Current and recent governments agree that the rule of law is a fundamental British value. However, the House of Lords Constitution Committee and legal sector organisations have raised concerns that the rule of law has been eroded. Law officers in the Labour government have committed to uphold and promote the rule of law.
