Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that immigration lawyers and law firms are not involved in (1) coaching claimants, or (2) encouraging them to make false statements to deceive the immigration system.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office Professional Enablers Taskforce was created in March 2023 to investigate the activities of all Professional Enablers, who may be using their expertise or position to abuse the immigration system. This includes legal professionals and immigration advisers.
Where unethical and illegal practices are identified and evidence exists that obligations have been breached, the taskforce may refer legal practitioners to the relevant regulatory body or to law enforcement partners, where criminality is evident for consideration of sanctions or penalties.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the asylum seekers' appeal system is not intentionally undermined, with the result that rejected applications are subsequently accepted.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Where a person has been refused asylum and makes further submissions, there will only be a right of appeal if the further submissions amount to a fresh claim. There will be a fresh claim only if the further submissions have not previously been considered and, taken together with the previously considered material, created a realistic prospect of success. In the vast majority of cases where there is a right of appeal, the Home Office is represented by Presenting Officers who are specially trained on immigration law and practice, including cross-examination, to ensure any credibility issues are raised before the tribunal, and that decisions are robustly defended at appeal where it is right to do so.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to criminalise the (1) production, and (2) possession, of AI-generated deepfake sexual images and videos involving real individuals.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is currently working with the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to review the extent to which existing criminal law provides coverage of AI-enabled offending and harmful behaviour, including the production and distribution of deepfake material using generative AI.
With respect to material concerning public figures, the new Online Safety Act introduces ‘false communications’ and ‘threatening communications’ offences that could cover the sending of deepfake content produced via AI, so long as the conditions are met. Other offences may also apply, such as impersonating a police officer.
If the review suggests alterations to the criminal law are required to clarify its application to AI-generated synthetic and manipulated material then amendments will be considered in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to (1) address, and (2) criminalise, the production of deepfake video and audio recordings involving public figures.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office is currently working with the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to review the extent to which existing criminal law provides coverage of AI-enabled offending and harmful behaviour, including the production and distribution of deepfake material using generative AI.
With respect to material concerning public figures, the new Online Safety Act introduces ‘false communications’ and ‘threatening communications’ offences that could cover the sending of deepfake content produced via AI, so long as the conditions are met. Other offences may also apply, such as impersonating a police officer.
If the review suggests alterations to the criminal law are required to clarify its application to AI-generated synthetic and manipulated material then amendments will be considered in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Bailey of Paddington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to make (1) the generation, and (2) the possession, of AI-generated sexual images and videos of children a punishable offence.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online and in our communities across the UK and internationally. Our approach is underpinned by the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which sets out firm commitments to drive action across the whole system.
The law in the UK is very clear with regards to production of child sexual abuse material. It is an offence to produce, store, share or search for any material that contains or depicts child sexual abuse, regardless of whether the material depicts a ‘real’ child or not. This prohibition also includes pseudo-imagery that may have been computer-generated.
Possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children carries a maximum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment. In addition, the offence of taking, making, distribution and possession with a view to distribution of any indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child under 18 carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.
Home Office investment supports the National Crime Agency to use its unique capabilities to disrupt the highest harm offenders, safeguard children and remove the most horrific child sexual abuse material from the internet, including on the dark web.
The Home Office has recently rolled out new tools linked to our world-leading Child Abuse Image Database to support law enforcement to identify offenders and safeguard victims more quickly. This includes Fast Forensic Triage – a tool that enables police officers to identify known indecent images of children on suspects’ devices up to 100 times faster than before.
In October, the Home Office, in partnership with the Internet Watch Foundation, hosted an AI Safety Summit side event to discuss the growing threat of generative artificial intelligence in tackling online child sexual abuse. As part of the event, the Home Office issued a joint statement on tackling the proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, with 33 signatories, including tech companies such as Snapchat, TikTok and Stability AI.