Abstract This article is part two of a two-part series of articles on image-based sexual abuse, the non-consensual production and dissemination through social media platforms and search engines of intimate and sexual images and videos, including synthetic images (‘deepfakes’). This second part focuses on the technological measures platforms can take and discusses the measures that could be employed. Additionally, it analyses what measures the UK Online Safety Act 2023 mandates online platforms to take, and how the measures fit or should fit into the co-regulatory framework established by the Act. It examines the provisions in the OSA and the relevant codes of practice and guidance and finds that while the Act itself envisions the use of proactive measures to prevent the amplification of IBSA, the recommended measures in Ofcom’s instruments are limited to reactive measures (notice and action) and to measures already implemented by (some of) the large platforms. It argues that Ofcom should be more ambitious in its regulatory approach. The article also classifies the platforms on which IBSA appears and argues that enforcement should take a strategic approach, distinguishing between platforms. It concludes with an exhortation to regulators to be both proactive and strategic.
Julia Hörnle (Thu,) studied this question.