Criminalise malicious AI deepfakes, says MP

Mid Norfolk Conservative MP George Freeman was depicted in an AI generated video of himself announcing that he was defecting to Reform UK

A Conservative MP says he will seek to change the law over AI deepfake videos after he became the victim of one.

It comes after George Freeman, who represents Mid Norfolk, was told by police a bogus video of him announcing his defection to Reform UK was not illegal.

He had initially reported the deepfake as an offence of sending false communications.

Freeman told the BBC it was time to "criminalise the dissemination of malicious deepfake videos - whether for fraud, democratic disruption or other serious crime".

He was left furious after the video was widely shared online.

The former tech minister was forced to issue a disclaimer denouncing it, stating the incident was "highly damaging for our democracy".

Freeman has been wary of the use of AI and as minister, he opposed tech companies being granted free access to text and data mining.

George Freeman - seen here in the fake video - has called for action to tackle what he sees as a form of identity theft

Norfolk Police launched an inquiry after Freeman passed on the AI-generated footage.

The force initially treated it as a potential false communications offence under the Online Safety Act 2023.

But in a statement a spokesperson said it did not meet the legal test for a crime.

The government is planning to bring forward its own legislation to tackle the issue of sexually explicit deepfake images.

A spokeswoman for Norfolk Police said: "A crime was initially recorded in accordance with ethical crime recording standards.

"These standards require that when a report is made to police, the alleged offence is recorded and subsequently investigated to determine whether the legal threshold for a crime has been met."

The 2023 act is aimed at protecting adults and children online and states "sending false information intended to cause non-trivial harm" could be considered a criminal offence.

Freeman said he considered the video to be a form of identity theft and that current legislation did not go far enough.

He added that he would now "use my time in Parliament to help legislate for the law that is needed".

"If we allow deepfake AI identity theft to grow unchecked we will be encouraging damage to our democratic traditions of free speech, fair debate, democratic accountability and trust in our political system.

"As an MP I have an opportunity to do something about it."