'Your photo is an extension of your body': Suffolk MP pushes for new AI image protections
Jess Asato wants people to be able to give or refuse consent so their images arent altered
A Suffolk MP is calling for a new legal right giving people greater control over how artificial intelligence can use and manipulate their images, warning current laws leave thousands of victims without protection.
Lowestoft MP Jess Asato believes people should have to give explicit consent before their photographs, videos or voice recordings can be altered using artificial intelligence.
Her proposal follows a roundtable discussion in Parliament with academics, charities and campaign groups examining gaps in the law surrounding AI-generated image abuse.
It comes after the Government introduced legislation criminalising the creation of non-consensual intimate images, including AI-generated nude deepfakes. However, Ms Asato argues current legislation does not cover many other forms of manipulated imagery which victims can still find threatening, degrading or abusive.
Speaking to us, she said the issue became personal after users of Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok manipulated one of her publicly available photographs earlier this year.
"My photo was taken from my X profile and users asked Grok to put me in a bikini," she said.
"Bikinis are not considered intimate under the law.
"While the Government has moved brilliantly fast to criminalise the production of non-consensual intimate images, the situation that I, and many thousands of other women, and unfortunately children, faced wouldn't actually have fallen foul of the law."
'Your photo is like an extension of your body'
Ms Asato said victims consistently describe manipulated images as a violation of their personal identity, regardless of whether they meet the legal definition of intimate imagery.
"So many victims that I've met have said your photo is like an extension of your body online," she said.
"It may be made up of pixels, but it's still you."
She believes the focus should shift away from whether an image is sexual and instead towards whether the person depicted gave permission for it to be created.
"What we need is to take back control of our image," she said.
Closing what she calls a legal loophole
During the parliamentary roundtable, Ms Asato said participants explored examples of AI-generated images that many people would consider abusive but which currently appear to fall outside criminal law.
These included manipulated images showing women with injuries or removing religious clothing such as hijabs.
Neither would necessarily constitute intimate imagery under existing legislation, she said, despite potentially causing significant distress.
She believes introducing a consent-based system would better reflect how people already manage their personal information online.
"There are lots and lots of ways every single day online that we consent to things," she said.
"I think this would just be one more way that we could protect our likeness, protect ourselves as women and children."
Beyond image abuse
Ms Asato said stronger controls over AI-generated content could also help tackle wider harms, including scams using cloned voices and manipulated political content.
She pointed to examples where artificial intelligence has been used to imitate voices or falsely portray public figures.
"We might be able to stop some of the more egregious instances of people who are using this either for criminal gain or because they know they can get away with it," she said.
What happens next?
Ms Asato said the next step will be to meet Government ministers to discuss how a consent-based framework could work in practice.
She acknowledged there are practical challenges around implementation, but believes the principle has broad support following the parliamentary discussions.
"There was a lot of consensus that there does need to be more action in this space," she said.
"The next step will be to find out how could we make this work in practice."
She said she hopes to present her proposals to ministers later this year after Parliament returns from its summer recess.
We've contacted the Home Office for a response.