An Australian teenager has pleaded guilty to creating deepfake pornography, in a landmark case. William Hamish Yeates, 19, is the first person to be charged under a new national law that criminalizes the manipulation of sexual images and carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Experts say deepfake pornography - often created through artificial intelligence technology, and overwhelmingly targeting women and girls - represents a new frontier of gendered, image-based abuse and bullying.
Yeates did not comment as he left court after admitting four offences on Wednesday and will return for a hearing in April. Initially facing 20 charges, he pleaded guilty to creating or altering sexual material without consent, distributing it, and using a carriage service in a harassing manner. The court heard that Yeates had distributed images of his alleged victim across multiple social media accounts without her consent.
This prosecution has been confirmed by Commonwealth prosecutors as the first of its kind in Australia, although some states have their own laws addressing deepfake materials. Australia's eSafety Commission has warned about the increasing threat of AI-manipulated content and has been advocating against apps that 'nudify' subjects in Australia. Recent studies indicated that explicit deepfakes have risen by 550% annually since 2019, with a staggering 98% of deepfake material online being pornographic, predominantly featuring women and girls.
Yeates did not comment as he left court after admitting four offences on Wednesday and will return for a hearing in April. Initially facing 20 charges, he pleaded guilty to creating or altering sexual material without consent, distributing it, and using a carriage service in a harassing manner. The court heard that Yeates had distributed images of his alleged victim across multiple social media accounts without her consent.
This prosecution has been confirmed by Commonwealth prosecutors as the first of its kind in Australia, although some states have their own laws addressing deepfake materials. Australia's eSafety Commission has warned about the increasing threat of AI-manipulated content and has been advocating against apps that 'nudify' subjects in Australia. Recent studies indicated that explicit deepfakes have risen by 550% annually since 2019, with a staggering 98% of deepfake material online being pornographic, predominantly featuring women and girls.
