Images created with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other forms deepfakes depicting child sexual abuse could be criminalized in the European Union
This comes out according to her plans EE to update existing legislation to keep pace with technological developments, as recently announced by the Commission.
It also proposes the creation of a new criminal offense for livestreaming child sexual abuse. Possession and Exchange”pedophilia manuals” will also be criminalized under the plan – which is part of a wider package of measures the EU says aims to boost prevention of sexual abuse (CSA), including by raising awareness of online risks and making it easier for victims to report crimes and receive support (including the right to financial compensation).
The proposal to update existing EU rules in this area, which date back to 2011, also includes changes to mandatory reporting of offences.
Last May 2022, the Commission presented a separate bill on the CSA, with the aim of establishing a framework that could make it mandatory for digital services to use automated technologies to identify and report existing or new child sexual abuse material (CASS) circulating on their platforms, as well as to identify and report grooming activities aimed at children.
The CSAM program has proved hugely controversial – and continues to divide lawmakers in the European Parliament and the Council, as well as raising suspicions about the Commission's links to child safety technology lobbyists and other embarrassing questions about its executive power EU.
The Commission's decision to prioritize targeting digital messaging platforms to tackle CSA has drawn much criticism that the bloc's lawmakers are focusing on the wrong area to combat a complex social problem – which may have created some pressure to present additional suggestions.
That said, even in less than two years since the controversial plan to scan private messages was introduced, there has been a massive increase in attention to the dangers surrounding deepfakes and images generated by Artificial Intelligence, including concerns that the technology is being used maliciously to CSAM production and concerns that this synthetic content could make it even more difficult for law enforcement to identify real victims.
"Both the increased online presence of children and technological developments create new opportunities for abuse", the Commission points out in its announcement. It also states that the proposal aims to “reducing the pervasive impunity of online child sexual abuse and exploitation".
In an impact assessment carried out by the Commission prior to the submission of the proposal, the increased online presence of children and "recent technological developments" were identified as areas that create new opportunities for CSA to take place. It also said it was concerned about differences in member states' legal frameworks that hinder action to combat abuse, and wanted to improve current "limited” efforts to prevent CSA and provide assistance to victims.
A strong criminal law is essential and today we are taking an important step to ensure we have effective legal tools to save children and bring perpetrators to justice. , added Ylva Johansson , commissioner for Home Affairs, in a supplementary statement.
Regarding online risks to children's safety, the Commission's proposal aims to encourage Member States to increase their investment in “sensitization". As with the program CASS, it will be up to the EU co-legislators, the Parliament and the Council, to determine the final form of the proposals. And there is limited time for talks ahead of parliamentary elections and the reactivation of the body of commissioners later this year – although, today's proposals to combat CSA may prove rather less divisive than the CSAM program. Thus, there could be a chance that one would be adopted while the other would remain in limbo.
If and when there is an agreement on amending the current directive to combat it CSA, it will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU, according to the Commission.
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