Australians who share AI deepfakes of another person without that person’s consent could be sued or face steep fines, under a new proposal before federal parliament today.<\/p>\n
Independent senator David Pocock, who is introducing the bill, said the government was yet to respond to rapid advances in the field of AI, and urgent action was needed.<\/p>\n
“I’m concerned that the government has dropped the ball,” Senator Pocock told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“Currently, unless a deepfake is sexually explicit, there’s very little that you can do as an Australian.”<\/p>\n
He said Australians lacked “basic safeguards” against having their likeness copied and used for scams, commercial exploitation, disinformation and a range of other purposes.<\/p>\n
“This bill would put into legislation that your face, voice and likeness is yours,” he said.<\/p>\n
David Pocock says Australians lack “basic safeguards” against having their face and voice copied without permission. (ABC News: Berge Breiland)<\/p>\n
The proposal seeks to add a dedicated complaints framework to the Online Safety Act, granting the eSafety Commissioner powers to demand deepfake removals and issue immediate fines.<\/p>\n
Under the changes, individuals who share a non-consensual deepfake could be fined $165,000 up-front, while companies that fail to comply with a removal notice could pay as much as $825,000.<\/p>\n
As well as the initial fine, individuals caught sharing non-consensual deepfakes could also be hit with a second fine for ignoring removal notices.<\/p>\n
Additionally, proposed changes to the Privacy Act would allow Australians to bring civil lawsuits and sue perpetrators directly for financial compensation.<\/p>\n
Under Senator Pocock’s proposal, the victim would not have to prove they had suffered financially in order to bring a case, in recognition of the emotional harm caused by deepfakes.<\/p>\n
“As humans \u2014 our likeness, our face, our voice, our mannerisms \u2014 that’s a big part of who we are,” he said.<\/p>\n
“To me, this seems like a bit of a no-brainer. You should own your face.”<\/p>\n
The bill seeks to grant the eSafety Commissioner new powers to demand deepfake removals and issue immediate fines. (ABC News: Abbey Haberecht)<\/p>\n
The bill also contained important limits, Senator Pocock said.<\/p>\n
It would carve out uses such as journalism, satire, and good faith uses by law enforcement, with similar exemptions and defences to defamation law, and an additional exemption for children.<\/p>\n
The bill was also designed with the goal of sparing people who share non-consensual deepfakes without realising it, while still catching out those who do so knowingly or recklessly.<\/p>\n
“We are now living in a world where increasingly anyone can create a deepfake and use it however they want,” Senator Pocock said.Loading…<\/p>\n