The Real Threat of Deepfake Pornography: A Review of Canadian Policy
Abstract
Deepfakes may refer to algorithmically synthesized material wherein the face of a person is superimposed onto another body. To date, most deepfakes found online are pornographic, with the people depicted in them rarely consenting to their creation and publicization. Deepfakes leave anyone with an online presence vulnerable to victimization. As a testament to policy often being reactionary to antisocial behavior, current Canadian legislation offers no clear recourse to those who are victimized by deepfake pornography. We aim to provide a critical review of the legal mechanisms and remedies in place, including criminal charges, defamation, copyright infringement laws, and injunctive relief that could be applied in deepfake pornography cases. To combat deepfake pornography, we suggest current laws to be expanded to include language specific to falsely created pornography without the explicit consent of all depicted persons. We also discuss the extent to which host websites are responsible for vetting the uploaded content on their platforms. Finally, we present a call for action on a societal and research level to deal with deepfakes and better support victims of deepfake pornography.
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Legal protection against deception via deepfakes is rather limited in most countries.
“In this study, when it comes to legal responses to deception via deepfakes, we found that legal protection is rather limited in most countries (Karasavva & Noorbhai, 2021; Langa, 2021; O'Donnell, 2021).”
From Deepfakes: Deceptions, mitigations, and opportunities (2023) · cites this paper as Karasavva & Noorbhai, 2021
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- Authors
- Karasavva, V., & Noorbhai, A.
- Affiliations
- Carleton University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Karasavva, Vasileia
- ORCID
- Karasavva, Vasileia
- Venue
- Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2021-03-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 203-209
- ISSN
- 2152-2715 (ISSN-L)
- 2152-2723
- OpenAlex
- W3139324720
- Cited by
- 85
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 1 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 57.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Law › Digitalization, Law, and Regulation
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
- Keywords
- deepfake pornography, deepfakes, Canadian law, consent, criminal liability, defamation, copyright infringement, injunctions, platform liability, content moderation, victim support, cyber victimization
- MeSH terms
- Canada, Erotica, Female, Humans, Deception, Male, Video Recording, Crime Victims, Young Adult, Policy, Social Media
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