Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what fines, sanctions or enforcement measures her Department is applying to technology companies that make available artificial intelligence tools capable of generating sexually explicit images, in particular of women and children.

Under the Online Safety Act, sharing, or threatening to share, a deepfake intimate image without consent is a criminal offence. The government will also urgently bring into force a new offence which criminalises the creation of intimate images without consent.

We will also legislate to criminalise nudification apps. This new criminal offence will make it illegal for companies to supply tools specifically designed to create non-consensual intimate images.

Ofcom is the enforcement regulator for the Online Safety Act and it has confirmed it is opening a formal investigation into X due to concerns over non consensual intimate images.