Big Brother star opens up about 'horrific' deepfake experience
Narinder Kaur shares what happened and the impact it's had during our podcast about deepfake image abuse
Last updated 13 hours ago
Broadcaster Narinder Kaur, formerly a Big Brother contestant, has spoken out about her experience of deepfake image abuse, describing how she felt it was to humiliate and silence her.
Narinder recounted to us - as part of our new Deepfaked podcast - the distressing moment where she was made aware of these fake explicit images and videos circulating online, some of which were actually being sent directly to her.
"That humiliation is real to me."
"So mine was two years ago, the first deepfake was horrific. What they want to do is talk at you, they want to silence you.
"In my case, it was, she's getting too much of a big voice here. How can we humiliate her? How can we silent her?"
The Impact of deepfake image abuse
As part of the podcast, the Leicester based star detailed the damaging effects these images have had not only on her, but also on her family.
"People say, oh, but it isn't real. But it is real - because that humiliation is real to me. And members in my community think it's real. That's damage.
"It didn't just affect my life. I'm big and old and ugly enough to be able to handle a lot of stuff because I've been in the public eye and I've taken a lot of abuse for a long time. But actually my family can't handle it, that's hard for them, it affects their lives too."
You can watch the podcast discussion here.
Narinder, who was born in West Bromwich but grew up in North Tyneside, expressed during the event the need for stronger responses from authorities, better protections on social media sites and improvements to the law.
"24 hours, that's already been viewed by 200,000 people. The damage is done."
"It's feeding into this misogynistic culture... When are we going to tackle the actual misogyny where men and boys think that it's banter, and it's okay?"
The law on deepfakes
The legal landscape surrounding deepfake image abuse has significantly strengthened.
In February this year, the act of creating sexually explicit deepfakes without consent was made illegal. Meaning the law now recognises creating, sharing and threatening to share these types of images as a criminal offence.
It is punishable through unlimited fines, a criminal record, or time behind bars.
Tech platforms are also responsible for removing any illegal deepfake content or intimate images shared without consent, and under new rules, have to do so within 48 hours.
A ban on ‘nudification’ tools is also underway, that would be criminalising those who design and supply these sorts of apps and sites.
Looking ahead, the Government's aiming to produce a framework for industries to better assess deepfake content on their platforms.
In the podcast, themes like freedom of speech, tech company responsibilities, and societal norms came up.
These were addressed by our panel, who expressed a wish to see educational change, particularly around misogynistic behaviour and the perception of women online.
Narinder said specifically: "It's root causes we need to be tackling, like misogyny in schools."
Summing up she added a message for anyone who may find themselves in a similar situation:
"If there's any teenage boys or girls listening, please tell your parents. I know you feel ashamed. You'll think it's your shame, but it's really not.
"Your parents need to know what's going on in your life - that's what is always at the top of my head, that if this was 13 year old me going through this, I'd be too scared to tell my mum because somehow it's my fault. But trust me, your parents need to know this or a teacher.
"Don't keep it a secret because that's when it becomes very dangerous for you."
If you, or someone you know has been deepfaked
If you've been impacted by deepfakes or online image abuse, you can get support and advice from:
The Cyber Helpline who offer advice to victims of online harm.
The Revenge Porn Helpline supports all adult victims of intimate image abuse in the UK.
And the Police have advice about the next steps you can take if you've been a victim.