VIRTUAL REVENGE PORNOGRAPHY AS A NEW ONLINE THREAT TO SEXUAL INTEGRITY

Abstract

Non-consensual pornography, better known under its popular name of revenge pornography, is one of the new forms of cybercrime offences. Revenge pornography refers to non-consensual dissemination of intimate images taken with the consent of an individual but with the implicit expectation that these images would remain private. Several countries around the world have taken measures to combat this cyber phenomenon and at this point, most of them more or less effective in an effort to criminalize it. However, as with all cybercrimes, the technology is continuously evolving and the perpetrators are always one step ahead of the legislators thinking of new better ways of breaking the law and blurring the line between legal and illegal.

With new artificial intelligence(hereafter: AI) algorithm technology that enables anyone to create a so-called “deepfake” video, in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness using artificial neural networks, new doors for misuse and online disinformation are opening. The technology can be used to manipulate and sow misinformation among voters in political campaigns and media, but also to make fake (virtual) pornographic videos. The article analyses and compares current revenge pornography legislation in selected countries, trying to answer the question if it can be applied and effectively used to protect personal and sexual integrity of an individual who is victimized by this new phenomenon. Virtual revenge pornography poses some new legal questions. What type of rights are being violated? Is it a person's privacy, reputation, or sexual integrity? The article aims to contemplate these and other relevant questions that may pose a hurdle to efficiently criminalizing virtual revenge pornography in the future.