UK strengthens Online Safety Act protections against intimate image abuse
The new requirements include hash-matching technology to detect known intimate image abuse and deepfakes.
The UK Government has announced an amendment to Ofcom’s Illegal Content Codes of Practice under the Online Safety Act, introducing new measures to tackle non-consensual intimate images. The update was outlined in by the Minister for AI and Online Safety, Kanishka Narayan.
The amendment requires relevant online services to use perceptual hash-matching technologies, or equivalent tools, to identify and prevent the re-upload of known non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated intimate image deepfakes.
According to the government, the change strengthens the framework established by Ofcom’s Illegal Content Codes of Practice, which entered into force in 2025. The updated approach aims to ensure that once abusive content has been identified and removed, systems are in place to prevent it from being repeatedly shared.
The amendment has been laid before Parliament for scrutiny and will take effect if neither House objects. The government said the measure is intended to strengthen protections for victims, particularly women and girls, and forms part of the ongoing implementation of the Online Safety Act in the UK.
Why does it matter?
Governments and regulators are increasingly treating AI-generated intimate imagery as a form of image-based abuse alongside authentic non-consensual intimate content. As generative AI tools make it easier to create and distribute realistic deepfakes, policymakers are looking for mechanisms to prevent harmful content from repeatedly reappearing online.
The UK’s proposal reflects a broader trend towards requiring platforms to deploy technical measures that can identify and block known abusive content while strengthening protections for victims of online harms.
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