Cathy Newman describes ‘invasive’ experience of seeing deepfake pornography of herself

A new law will make creating non-consensual deepfakes an offence

Cathy Newman has detailed the “invasive” experience of watching deepfake pornography of herself ahead of a new law outlawing the practice.

The Channel 4 presenter, 49, opened up about the disturbing incident today (16 April) and said while she expected to “see the seams of AI”, she found the clip incredibly realistic.

“I didn’t think I’d be too affected by it but actually when I watched it, the only way to describe it is that it was violating,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

“It was kind of me and not me, and yet it was incredibly invasive.

“It was a sort of disgusting fantasy that someone had had and decided to create of me in all sorts of different sexual positions.

“It was really disturbing and violating is really the best way to describe it.

“If you didn’t know, you would stumble across this video online and think it was me”.

Cathy Newman described her own deepfake as ‘invasive’ (PA Archive)

The new law, which was announced today, will see anyone responsible for creating non-consensual deepfakes face a criminal record and unlimited fine.

The law states that if the content is widely shared, its creator(s) could also end up behind bars.

“The new law will mean that if someone creates a sexually explicit deepfake, even if they have no intent to share it but purely want to cause alarm, humiliation or distress to the victim, they will be committing a criminal offence,” the British government explained on its website.

Newman saw her own deepfake footage as part of a Channel 4 investigation into the subject, which lays bare the dangers of the practice and the profound effect it can have on victims.

The presenter explains that she is still trying to establish who made the non-consensual explicit content.

She said: “I think one of the problems with this new law that’s being proposed is that this is a worldwide problem.

Newman said time is of the essence when it comes to implementing the new law (Jason Alden)

“So, we can legislate in this jurisdiction, it might have no impact on whoever created my video or the millions of other videos that are out there, and I think speed is also of the essence here because we discovered in our research that more deepfake porn videos were created in 2023 than all other years combined, so this is increasing exponentially.”

The new proposed law comes hot on the heels of the Online Safety Act, which last year made it illegal to share non-consensual deepfakes.

Laura Farris, the minister for victims and safeguarding, said: “The creation of deepfake sexual images is despicable and completely unacceptable irrespective of whether the image is shared.

“It is another example of ways in which certain people seek to degrade and dehumanise others - especially women. And it has the capacity to cause catastrophic consequences if the material is shared more widely. This government will not tolerate it.

“This new offence sends a crystal clear message that making this material is immoral, often misogynistic, and a crime.”