Sinn Féin Senator for Laois has called on government TDs Sean Fleming and Willie Aird to back Sinn Féin’s amendment to Coco’s Law ‘to demonstrate true commitment to Zero Tolerance for violence against women and children’.
Senator McCormack was speaking ahead of the Bill, brought forward by party spokesperson on Justice, Matt Carthy, and spokesperson on Equality, Domestic, and Gender Violence, Máire Devine, being debated in the Dáil this evening.
Maria McCormack said: “Sinn Féin’s amendment to Coco’s Law would clarify that the creation of sexualised AI deepfakes is illegal by criminalising the generation and creation of nonconsensual intimate images and videos.
“It would also extend the statute of limitations from two to five years which would allow victims plenty of time to come forward, and also give An Garda Síochána enough time to forensically technically examine personal electronic devices and servers in order to build a strong case.
“Finally, it would increase the maximum penalties upon conviction to properly reflect the heinousness of these crimes.
“Creating child sexual abuse material using artificial intelligence is abhorrent.
“Cyberbullying and harassing women in an effort to silence them, to influence others’ opinions of them and shatter their self-esteem, is reprehensible.
“People are doing these things in Ireland using generative AI tools available now.
“Many government TDs and Ministers have spoken out in the past few weeks about the need to ensure criminalisation of the generation of sexualised AI deepfakes.
“I therefore hope that this will translate into cross-party support tonight to pass Sinn Féin’s bill through to committee stages.
“Passing Sinn Féin’s amendment to Coco’s Law would demonstrate a true commitment to Zero Tolerance for violence against women and children in Ireland.”
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