Canada’s new law criminalizing sexualized AI deepfakes ‘too little, too late,’ woman says
Canada’s new law criminalizing sexualized AI deepfakes ‘too little, too late,’ woman says
Publish Date: 2026-06-26 04:00:00
Source Domain: www.cbc.ca
- A Halifax woman, B.L.E., was disturbed when her former classmate was acquitted as the court ruled his deepfake nude images didn’t comply with Canada’s intimate images definition in the Criminal Code.
- The acquittal occurred as there was no law criminalizing the distribution of deepfakes.
- In June 2026, Bill C-16 (Protecting Victims Act) was passed and received royal assent, changing the definition of ‘intimate images.’
- The issue revolves around whether the synthetic images were recordings of a person as the old law didn’t cover AI-generated depictions.
- B.L.E. is suing her former classmate, seeking justice on a personal level because the legal system has failed her.
- Justice Minister Sean Fraser admits the law should have been created earlier and assures improvements will be made as technology evolves.
- The new definition includes protection against threatening to distribute an intimate image, not just the distribution itself.
