Violence against women in Ireland is a massive problem and the digital and social media spaces have a central role in amplifying this violence. The sharing of non-consensual photos or the recording of images is absolutely wrong on all levels and is rightfully criminalised under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, or Coco's Law. Unfortunately, however, the use of AI to generate deepfakes or non-consensual intimate images is not criminalised. This Government has been too slow to bring forward legislation to address what is clearly a loophole in the Act. The Government's failure to introduce relevant legislation has become clear in recent months, particularly following the Grok nudification scandal. This Sinn Féin Bill will amend Coco's Law by making three straightforward changes. It will explicitly criminalise the non-consensual creation or generation of intimate images and videos through the use of AI. It will extend the statute of limitations from two to five years for summary offences and it will increase the maximum penalties upon conviction. These legislative changes are supported by Women's Aid, Rape Crisis Ireland, the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute and Éist, as well as by Jackie Fox, the mother Nicole Fox Fenlon, for whom Coco's Law is named. If this Government had acted promptly to introduce legislation, it would have received co-operation from the Opposition. Instead, it chose to sit on its hands and do nothing. Meanwhile, non-consensual images were generated and lives have been destroyed. In the absence of Government legislation, I ask the Minister, on behalf of the women of Ireland, to ensure that his party supports the Bill brought forward tonight.

Sentiment score: -0.17