Sexually explicit deepfakes (FOI ref: 1616A/24)

Request

I am writing under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to inquire about data regarding reports of 'deepfake pornography'.

Can you please share with me data contained in reported incidents which contain the words 'deepfake' and 'porn'/'pornography' from 09/10/2022 to 09/10/2024.

Q1a. Please can you share with me how many reports of these words together were made.

Q1b. Can you break down these results as reports per month.

Q2. Please can you share information on the nature of each incident and the outcome (e.g. advice given or what charges were pressed).

Q3. Please can you also share the gender and the ages of those who reported and those convicted.

*By 'deepfake pornography' I refer to 'synthetic pornography that is created via altering already-existing photographs or video by applying deepfake technology to the images of the participants' often non-consensually, the products of which can sometimes be used as revenge porn.

Response

Q1a - A search of our records for incident summaries that contain the words ‘deepfake porn/pornography’ produced four relevant results. These were all in 2024.

Q1b, Q2 & Q3 – We can confirm that relevant information is held by West Midlands Police. However, we are withholding that information by virtue of Section 40(2) - Personal information.

Section 40(2) allows for information to be withheld where release would breach the third party’s data protection rights. Given the limited number of cases identified for question 1a (only four), disclosing further details such as monthly breakdowns, specific report details, outcomes, or demographic information could lead to the identification of the individuals involved in these incidents.

Sexually explicit deepfakes can have a profound impact on the victim in all aspects of their life – from their wellbeing and mental health to relationships, employment, and ability to take part in public life. Disclosure of the information would therefore contravene data protection principles in that it would be unfair to release this information where any person could be identified from the data and in this case the right to privacy outweighs any public interest in release.

Further details regarding Section 40 can be found on the College of Policing website at the following link: Freedom of information | Exemptions