The UK government entrusts the telecommunications regulator to control inappropriate female nudity on the internet

Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications regulator, has published a new set of guidelines targeting social media and messaging platforms to prevent the spread of highly private photos and videos (revenge porn) released online with the aim of embarrassing women and girls. These new regulations will strongly compel service providers to identify and suppress such misuse occurring on their platforms, as well as fake visual content (deepfakes) created by artificial intelligence (AI).

This problem escalated significantly late last year with the emergence of a trend of creating sexually explicit videos of women using Elon Musk's Grok AI technology. Women have long complained that it is extremely difficult to remove such distressing photos and videos, released online without their consent, from public websites, and the regulatory authority points out that this situation has further worsened with the development of generative AI technology.

These new rules have been introduced following a warning from the 'End Violence Against Women' organization that it would take legal action, accusing Ofcom of failing in its responsibility to protect women. According to these guidelines, photos depicting nudity, sexual acts, body parts covered only by underwear, or a person using a toilet are classified as highly private photos.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared this a "national emergency" that the government must address immediately in February, stating that tech companies failing to remove such content from the internet within 48 hours would face the risk of being blocked in the UK. Ofcom has already advised relevant websites to use "hash-matching" technology to identify these illegal photos and prevent their further spread across the internet.

Authorities have focused heavily on online forums, particularly those based in places like university dormitories, where unauthorized photos of women are shared, creating a serious security risk. UK Technology Secretary Liz Kendall called the situation faced by victims an "endless nightmare" and emphasized that existing technology must be immediately used to permanently stop these illegal activities without any excuses. Following the relevant parliamentary process, this new legal framework is expected to come into force in the upcoming autumn.