Support the deep fake digital harm and exploitation bill
The issue
Imagine waking up one morning to discover that your face has been digitally altered and placed into an intimate video that you never consented to. The video looks real, it is spreading online, and thousands of people may see it before you even know it exists. For victims of non-consensual AI deepfakes, this is not fiction. It is a growing form of digital abuse.
AI deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to create or manipulate images, videos and audio so that people appear to say or do things they never actually said or did. While the technology itself is not inherently harmful, its misuse can have serious consequences. Non-consensual intimate deepfakes can cause humiliation, distress, a loss of reputation and lasting harm to victims.
New Zealand already has laws that can address some forms of harmful digital communication. However, advances in artificial intelligence have created new challenges, particularly when fake intimate material is made to appear as though it depicts a real person.
The Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill seeks to address this problem. The Bill would clarify that artificially created, synthesised or altered material can be treated as an intimate visual recording when it appears to depict a person in an intimate situation without their consent. This would extend existing legal protections to cover certain forms of AI-generated intimate content.
This is an important step towards ensuring that victims are not left without legal protection simply because the material used against them was generated by artificial intelligence rather than recorded in real life.
The Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill is therefore an important part of the conversation about how New Zealand should respond to AI-generated abuse. It recognises that the law must keep pace with technology and that people should have meaningful protection when their identity and likeness are exploited without their consent.
Technology should be used to empower people, not to take away their dignity, privacy or sense of safety. New Zealand has an opportunity to establish clear boundaries around the misuse of AI and ensure that victims of digital exploitation have appropriate legal protection.
Support stronger protections against harmful deepfakes. Help ensure that technological innovation does not come at the expense of people's privacy, dignity and safety.
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The issue
Imagine waking up one morning to discover that your face has been digitally altered and placed into an intimate video that you never consented to. The video looks real, it is spreading online, and thousands of people may see it before you even know it exists. For victims of non-consensual AI deepfakes, this is not fiction. It is a growing form of digital abuse.
AI deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to create or manipulate images, videos and audio so that people appear to say or do things they never actually said or did. While the technology itself is not inherently harmful, its misuse can have serious consequences. Non-consensual intimate deepfakes can cause humiliation, distress, a loss of reputation and lasting harm to victims.
New Zealand already has laws that can address some forms of harmful digital communication. However, advances in artificial intelligence have created new challenges, particularly when fake intimate material is made to appear as though it depicts a real person.
The Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill seeks to address this problem. The Bill would clarify that artificially created, synthesised or altered material can be treated as an intimate visual recording when it appears to depict a person in an intimate situation without their consent. This would extend existing legal protections to cover certain forms of AI-generated intimate content.
This is an important step towards ensuring that victims are not left without legal protection simply because the material used against them was generated by artificial intelligence rather than recorded in real life.
The Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill is therefore an important part of the conversation about how New Zealand should respond to AI-generated abuse. It recognises that the law must keep pace with technology and that people should have meaningful protection when their identity and likeness are exploited without their consent.
Technology should be used to empower people, not to take away their dignity, privacy or sense of safety. New Zealand has an opportunity to establish clear boundaries around the misuse of AI and ensure that victims of digital exploitation have appropriate legal protection.
Support stronger protections against harmful deepfakes. Help ensure that technological innovation does not come at the expense of people's privacy, dignity and safety.
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Petition created on 1 September 2026