This amendment relates to sexually explicit deepfake images, which is something that's of major concern to women and gender-diverse people across Canada. When sexual predators generate sexually explicit images of recognizable individuals, that is an act of violence. When someone creates a sexualized image of you without your consent where the intent of sexualization is to humiliate and silence you, that is a violation of your safety.
As an example of where this bill falls short, we've seen recently that X/Twitter has encouraged users to produce sexualized images using its Grok AI tool, including realistic human images resembling children and underaged girls.
As experts have told us, the legislation as it is currently drafted would not capture these offences, as it does not include the words “creation of images”, only their distribution. Other countries have been tougher on big tech executives like Elon Musk, and have banned this platform. So far, even in this legislation, the government has failed to act to protect the safety of women and children.
I'm urging the government and all members of this committee to join me in improving this legislation by refusing to be soft on tech giants like Elon Musk and prohibiting the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes that violate the safety and well-being of women and gender-diverse people.
This was also echoed by Children First Canada, even in the new recommendations to prohibit children and young teens from going on social media. Although they're not opposed to having an age restriction, it does not deal with the root of the problem, which is holding big media and tech giants responsible for allowing these abuses to occur.
Thank you.