Responding to Ofcom’s new recommendation for tech firms to use automated hash-matching to tackle intimate image abuse, Emma Pickering, Head of the Tech-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment Team at Refuge, said:
“Refuge welcomes Ofcom’s decision to strengthen its Illegal Content Codes by introducing a recommendation for technology firms to use automated detection technology to reduce the spread of non-consensual intimate images (NCII) online.
As the UK’s largest specialist domestic abuse charity, Refuge is at the frontline of the unfolding epidemic of tech abuse, providing lifesaving support to survivors and raising the alarm about emerging forms of intimate image abuse including the weaponisation of deepfake technology and spycameras.
This horrific form of violence against women and girls (VAWG) has devastating and long-lasting consequences that can impact every area of a survivor’s life. Every minute NCII is left online, it is causing harm. Acting before it circulates is critical to safeguarding survivors, reducing repeated trauma, and breaking the cycle of abuse.
Proactive tools such as hash-matching can play a vital role in preventing harm before it happens, automatically detecting NCII content and blocking it from being uploaded – stopping abuse in its tracks. Alongside recent legislation that bans nudification tools and requires tech companies to takedown NCII within 48 hours of it being reported, Ofcom’s decision marks a further step towards requiring tech companies to take a proactive approach to preventing harm. Once the amendment comes into force later this year, monitoring implementation will be critical.
The Government can and should enable Ofcom to go further in holding tech companies to account for women and girls’ safety online, by upgrading Ofcom’s VAWG Guidance into a legally enforceable Code of Practice. This would require tech companies to comply or face enforcement action – sending a clear message that platforms cannot profit from abuse without consequence.”
