Predators using AI to extort, shame women and girls

Women and girls in the Caribbean are walking into a "dangerous new frontier" of sexual violence as artificial intelligence (AI) tools make it easier for predators to manufacture nude images and pornographic videos of persons who never posed for them.

"Sexual and gender violence has proliferated for a very long time and I think whatever tools [or] technological means people have to perpetuate those forms of violence has been mobilised," Dr Halimah DeShong, university director at the Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) at The UWI Regional Headquarters, told THE STAR. "We have to be very concerned. Our legislative framework is not able to keep apace with the changes in technology. We are in response mode, as opposed to prevention mode, and that has always been a problem with sexual and gender-based violence."

"People are using these technologies to humiliate women, to extort them, to coerce them, to shame them and a lot of it is happening among younger demographics," DeShong added.

She explained that sexual violence has always adapted to new tools. With so much social interaction now happening online, predators have shifted their tactics entirely. DeShong said that victims often do not know that these fabricated sexual images exist until they start circulating, sometimes in school WhatsApp groups, workplace chats, or on TikTok.

"It's becoming harder and harder to identify deepfake or AI content and we have to doubletake and look closely to discern if it's real. Think about what this would mean for those persons who are without the resources to say 'This is not me' or to have a PR team to correct it," she said.

The IGDS has observed cases across the region in which students are targeted with AI-generated sexual images used to shame, threaten, or manipulate them. DeShong said that while Caribbean countries have various cybersecurity laws, they are not agile enough to respond to rapidly evolving digital forms of gender-based violence.

"There are a lot of examples of how I think we could do so much better. Part of the doing much better is us being able to educate those who are most affected by these forms of violence. And us having strong accountability mechanisms. So I think the Caribbean, for example, we have various kinds of cybersecurity legislation, but they're not specific enough to address how gender-based violence occurs in the digital space."

Section Nine of Jamaica's Cybercrimes Act speaks to publishing information that is obscene, threatening in nature, and sent with a view to cause harm. But the Act does not specify criminal liability for deepfakes and AI-generated content. DeShong said that some legislation is still too vague.

"So the fact that we have some model legislation emerging that focuses specifically on technology, facilitated gender-based violence or what they call digital gender-based violence in some spaces, it's good. But it takes us so long to do things like that. A legislation alone is not at all where the answers are," DeShong said.

"We need robust definitions of what sexual and gender-based violence looks like in the digital age. And we need accountability mechanisms that keep pace with the technology."

She called for open conversations with young people about the safe use of technology and what misuse looks like, and for them to be able to have reporting mechanisms where they're not shamed into doing things that they don't want to do. She added that schools and communities must teach young people an "ethical code" around technology, including the consequences of using digital tools to cause harm.

"We also have a reality where we cannot control those who want to use the technology for nefarious purposes. That is something we have to confront through education and how technologies could be mobilised for good."

Despite some disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa, the IGDS has kept its 16 Days of Activism focus on digital gender-based violence and the heightened vulnerability of women and girls in disaster situations.

"We are constantly calling attention to gender justice and ending sexual and gender-based violence. Accountability is necessary. Education is necessary. And we must have zero tolerance for using technology to commit harm."