B.C. taking steps to protect people from having intimate images shared online without consent

The province has passed legislation to make it easier for victims to get sexual images of themselves posted online without their consent -- taken down, as experts question whether it goes far enough to address the next frontier -- of artificial intelligence.

David Fraser is one of Canada's leading internet and privacy lawyers. He says most victims just want the images in question taken down. The B.C. law he says, is a good step, but it's unclear if the definition of an image will include what some call, deep fakes.

"It's not just the old fashioned Photoshop. Its videos can be completely recreated changing somebody's face, changing body characteristics, and things like that. And the ultimate impact can be just as harmful on the victims of that sort of thing," Fraser told CTV.

To protect victims -- the B.C. government has passed legislation that gives them a faster and easier way to get sexual images posted online -- taken down quickly. This fall, victims will have access to a website to make that request through the civil resolution tribunal.

Ryan Black, a partner with the firm DLA Piper (Canada) said he thought the intent of the law was clear and that may help when dealing with cases involving AI.

"I think courts are going to be not very friendly towards people who using artificial intelligence, manipulate images to make them appear explicit.," Black explained. "We're probably going to get to the same place, but I think that it should have been part of this act very clearly."

The attorney general sent a letter to big media companies about the legislation and how court orders will demand they take the images down. Niki Sharma told reporters she had already met with Google and hoped to meet with other tech giants as well.

"The letter's very clear and they're all on notice that posting intimate images without consent is sexualized violence and won't be tolerated," added Sharma.

Experts say most large companies don't want negative press, so they will remove them. But those who make a business of sharing these kinds of images may not.

"A Canadian court order of this type simply doesn't have any force for effect outside of Canada," explained Fraser.

Asked about jurisdictional issues, Sharma insisted her team felt a court order or administrative penalties administered for non-compliance were enforceable.

Sharing intimate images of someone without their consent is a crime in Canada. Going through that court process can be traumatizing and cumbersome, which is why many provinces are coming up with their own rules.

"I think that a lot of this stuff happens at the heat of the moment and kind of maybe sometimes comes from abusive relationships," added Black. The lawyer added he felt B.C.'s new law was a good way to educate people about the issue and hopefully deter them.

Anti-violence groups point out there's often a lot of shame and victim-blaming for what increasingly is being recognized for what it is -- not so-called "revenge porn" -- but a harmful crime.