It's the first Friday of February 2026, and I'm loitering on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street. I've just stood alongside Jodie*, a survivor of deepfake abuse, as she knocked on one of the most important political buildings in the world. A police officer opens the door, and Jodie hands him a cardboard box representing the 73,000 signatures in support of a campaign we, along with EVAW, Professor Clare McGlynn, and Not Your Porn, have been working on for nearly two years. A campaign that started with the goal of criminalising the creation of so-called ādeepfake pornā that quickly grew into a movement to eradicate all forms of image-based sexual abuse.
On Friday, 6th February, a new law was passed making it illegal to create ā or ask someone else to create ā a sexually explicit deepfake of someone without their consent. This has been a hard-fought victory, given that the offence was first announced by the Conservative government back in 2024. Following the general election, which saw a Labour majority take over, it took till January 2025 for the new government to confirm the creation of the offence. A year later, the offence has finally been implemented.
To mark the occasion, we joined survivors and campaigners, including former Glamour Women of the Year Cally Jane Beech, Sharon Gaffka, Girli, and Charli Howard, to hand in our petition to 10 Downing Street. The petition calls for a series of stronger measures to stop image-based abuse, including the following:
- Rapid image take-down routes: survivors need 48-hour takedown orders so abusive images can be removed quickly from websites, platforms, and perpetratorsā devices.
- A wider, context-based definition of intimate images: If the law only reflects a white, Western idea of intimacy, it will leave many women, such as Muslim women, unprotected.
- An Online Safety Commission: for survivors to report deepfake or intimate image abuse and trigger action against platforms hosting harmful material.
This is a huge milestone in the fight against image-based abuse, but it came too late for many women and children. The government fast-tracked the offence after the Grok scandal, which saw 3 million sexualised images produced. As Jodie says, āWhile I am relieved that the law is finally being brought into force, it is impossible to ignore that it should have happened last year, when it received Royal Assent. That it has taken the Grok scandal and the creation of yet more victims to force action is deeply disappointing. This delay has caused real, avoidable harm.ā
Rebecca Hitchen, Head of Policy & Campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: "It is thanks to the determination of victims and survivors like Jodie that this law comes into force today. Far too many women and girls have paid the price for a global failure to properly regulate online platforms which will always choose profit over the safety and well-being of users.
This is a momentous step in the right direction, but the government and Ofcom must go further. This means more support for survivors, more routes for take-downs and removals, and robust and effective regulation."
Elena Michael, co-founder and Director of #NotYourPorn, said: āIn the noise about this law being a Government success story, we must champion the stories of survivors behind the scenes, like Jodie, who didnāt give up and fought every day to be heard. This law has been crafted from Jodieās experience and we are indebted to her for fighting for the rights of women and girls despite the enormous personal cost.
Although we are pleased the law is coming into force, it shouldnāt have taken a year or public outrage to bring it into fruition. This is a sobering reminder of how survivors lead change and that listening to survivors early on is not optional, it is essential to preventing harm. This is not the time to become complacent with the wins, there is much left to do and survivors like Jodie are at the heart of the solutions.ā
Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law at the University of Durham, said: āEvery day, women face the threat of being deepfaked, a devastating violation that can shatter lives. This new law is a vital step towards ending image-based abuse. But itās only the start.
We need comprehensive reforms that give women rights to get material taken down and deleted. We need a regulator that will take proactive and robust action against deep fake and nudify websites and apps.
And we need these actions urgently. Legal changes do not need to take years. We just need to prioritise acting against this industrial-scale abuse of women and girls.
This new law sends a clear message that deepfake sexual abuse is wrong and criminal. This provides the foundation for action; we now need to build on its foundations by granting civil rights to women and girls to get imagery removed and deleted. We also need strong action to ensure that platforms are held to account.ā
*Names have been changed.
Revenge Porn Helpline provides advice, guidance and support to victims of intimate image-based abuse over the age of 18 who live in the UK. You can call them on 0345 6000 459.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra or on TikTok at @lucyalexxandra.
