The Crime and Policing Act has become law, bringing in new measures to ensure women and girls are more protected online as new technologies evolve.
The wide-sweeping measures cover AI chatbots, non-consensual images published online, image hashing and banning ‘nudification’ apps.
The Act means AI chatbots, like X’s Grok, are required to protect users from illegal content like non‑consensual sexual deepfakes and child sexual abuse material.
Platforms are now legally required to remove non‑consensual intimate images within 48 hours of a valid report – and this includes removing copies of the same image, not just the original upload, to stop re‑victimisation.
The law lets the government create a secure ‘do not share’ list for abusive intimate images, meaning platforms will be able to spot these images instantly and stop them spreading.
The Act also creates a new criminal offence to ban so‑called ‘nudification’ apps – tools that use AI to digitally strip women and girls, creating fake naked images without their consent. It is now illegal to make, supply or offer these tools, targeting developers and suppliers who profit from humiliation, abuse and exploitation.
“By writing some of these crucial measures into UK law, we are sending a clear signal: vile, misogynistic abuse simply has no place in our society, online or offline,” says technology secretary Liz Kendall.
“We will keep acting until the online world protects women from abuse and exploitation.”
