When justice fails: why women can’t get protection from AI deepfake abuse

Within minutes, thousands of people had viewed the content. In a matter of hours, millions.

The nightmare had barely begun.

Days passed before the platforms responded. By then, the images had already been viewed, saved and replicated. She was left wondering: Who do I report this to? Will anyone believe me? Will the people who did this ever face consequences? Or will the blame fall on me?

This is the reality for thousands of women and girls every day. AI deepfakes are destroying real lives and justice remains out of reach for most survivors.

Their story could be yours.

Deepfake abuse is the spearhead of a much broader pattern of digital violence directed at women and girls. It has a gender and it is increasing. Right now, systems designed to protect people are failing, while the tools to cause harm are getting cheaper, faster and easier to use every day.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is deepfake abuse and how common is it?

Deepfakes are images, audio or videos manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI) that make it look like someone said or did something they never did.

The technology itself is not new, but its use as a weapon against women and girls is a newer phenomenon and is accelerating rapidly.

• Deepfake porn accounted for 98 percent of all deepfake videos online, and 99 percent represented women, according to a 2023 report.
• It is estimated that deepfake videos were 550 percent more prevalent in 2023 than in 2019.
• The tools to create them are widely available, generally free, and require very little technical experience.
• Once published, AI-generated content can be replicated infinitely, saved to private devices, and shared across platforms, making it nearly impossible to delete it entirely.

Why survivors don’t report and what happens when they do

Lack of information is one of the biggest barriers to accountability. For survivors who do come forward, the justice system often becomes another source of trauma.

• Survivors are repeatedly asked to view and describe abusive content to police, lawyers and platform moderators, while often facing questions such as “are you sure it’s not real?” or “did you share intimate images before?”
• If a case goes to court, your clothing, relationships, and past behavior come under the microscope, not those of the perpetrator.
• The harm does not stay online, according to a UN Women survey, which found that 41 percent of women in public life who experienced digital violence also reported facing offline attacks or harassment related to it.

Why deepfake creators rarely face justice

Despite the magnitude of the damage, prosecutions are rare, platforms routinely fail to act, and survivors are often retraumatized when they try to seek help. Here’s why:

The law has not been updated as less than half of countries have laws addressing online abuse and even fewer have legislation specifically covering AI-generated deepfake content.

• Most laws on “revenge porn” or image-based abuse were written before deepfakes existed, leaving gaping loopholes.
• In many countries, deepfake pornography or AI-generated nude images fall into legal gray areas.
• Survivors are unsure if the abuse is even illegal and if the perpetrators can be prosecuted.

Law enforcement is lagging because even where laws exist, investigators need expertise in digital forensics, cross-border coordination and platform cooperation to build a case, while most justice systems do not have adequate resources for any of these

• Evidence quickly disappears as content spreads and copies multiply, while perpetrators hide behind anonymity or operate across jurisdictions.
• Platforms are slow or unwilling to share data with authorities, especially in cross-border cases.
• Delays in digital forensic investigation mean cases stall before even starting

Tech platforms are failing survivors as they have long hidden behind the status of “intermediaries” to avoid liability for user-generated content.

What should happen now?

While there are several nations and regions taking action (see text box below), stopping the abuse of deepfakes requires urgent and coordinated action by governments, institutions and technology platforms.

Here are five things that need to happen:

1. Laws that actually cover deepfake abuse

Governments must pass laws with clear definitions of AI-generated abuse and focusing on consent, strict liability for perpetrators, rapid deplatforming obligations, and cross-border enforcement protocols.

2. Justice systems that can investigate and prosecute

Law enforcement agencies need dedicated training, resources and capacity to collect and preserve digital evidence while digital forensics backlogs are addressed, and international cooperation frameworks become rapid, functional and fit for purpose.

3. Responsible platforms

Technology companies should be legally required to proactively monitor and remove abusive content within mandated deadlines, cooperate with authorities, and face real financial consequences when they fail to act.

4. Real support for survivors

Trauma-informed, trained legal and law enforcement professionals and free legal aid must be available.

5. Education that prevents abuse

Digital literacy, including education about consent, online safety and what to do when abused, must start young and reach everyone, as prevention is as important as prosecution.