The Spanish government takes the first step towards making 'deepfakes' a crime

BarcelonaFirst step by the Spanish government to ensure that they deepfakes be a crime. The government wants these AI-generated images that appear real to be included in the chapter of the Penal Code dedicated to crimes against honor, such as slander and libel.

The aim of this move is to combat the online dissemination of fictional, yet realistic-looking, sexual images created from real photographs taken in other contexts. The draft bill approved by the Council of Ministers this Tuesday adds to the government's request to the Public Prosecutor's Office to Please clarify whether X's artificial intelligence, Grok, has committed a child pornography offense when it has produced, at the request of platform users, images of sexual content and violence against children.

However, the reform promoted by the Spanish government will not focus solely on sexual images, but will also deem it illegal to use without authorization the image or voice of a person created or manipulated with AI or similar technologies. The law includes some exceptions in cases of deepfakes that have a creative, satirical, artistic, or fictional purpose, but creators will have to explicitly state that the content is manipulated and does not correspond to reality.

Once the draft bill receives reports from the advisory bodies, it will return to the Council of Ministers and will finally be voted on in Congress, where it will need to obtain an absolute majority to pass.

The draft bill approved this Tuesday also strengthens the concept of consent with the aim of preventing platforms and social networks from publishing images of people without any limitations. Minors will not be able to give their consent until they turn 16, and if a user has given their consent to have their image published, they can revoke it at any time. In any case, sharing images on a social network will not mean that other people can share them on social networks or other distribution channels.

Furthermore, the executive's proposal establishes criteria for judges to assess the severity of potential violations and calculate corresponding compensation. Factors such as the potential social repercussions of the case, the perpetrator's history of offenses, and the severity of the language used are taken into account. Based on these criteria, judges will be able to determine the appropriate compensation for moral damages suffered by the victim.

'True crime' and 'influencers'

In the same reform, the government sets limitations on the programs of true crime to prevent a criminal from revealing facts related to the crime that could cause pain to the victims. Another element affecting these productions is the fact that wills can prohibit the use of a person's voice or image for advertising or commercial purposes.

The Spanish government also approved on Tuesday the draft law on the right of reply, which expands to social media the possibility, previously reserved for the media, for any person to request the correction of false or inaccurate information that affects them. "I believe that the frequency, and also the severity, of the false rumors and lies that we sometimes suffer is increasing," said the Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, regarding the new law.

In the case of social media, this rule will apply to users who have more than 100,000 followers on a single platform or more than 200,000 combined across several platforms. Thus, both digital media and influencers They will need to have a visible and accessible mechanism that allows for requesting a correction.