UK Laws on Sexually Explicit Deepfakes

“Deepfake” is a broad media term, not the name of one UK offence. Legislation uses concepts such as a “purported intimate image,” which has a specific meaning in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The exact conduct and legal elements matter: creating an image, requesting its creation, sharing it, threatening to share it, and making or supplying a tool can be treated separately. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 inserted offences relating to creating or requesting the creation of a purported intimate image of an adult without consent or reasonable belief in consent. Government commencement guidance says those provisions came into force on 6 February 2026. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 later inserted offences for making or adapting, supplying or offering to supply a thing for use as a generator of purported intimate images. The relevant commencement regulations brought section 99 into force on 29 June 2026. A “thing” can include software, electronic information or a service under the statutory text. These changes sit alongside existing offences concerning sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent. The statutes have defined territorial scope and detailed conditions, defences and penalties. Some provisions distinguish adults from children, whose images are addressed by separate child-protection offences. Do not assume every AI-generated nude image fits the same offence, or that a tool’s broad image-generation capability alone decides its legal status. The conduct, intention or reasonable-person test, consent, image definition and jurisdiction can all matter. When explaining the law, cite the enacted provision and its commencement date, and distinguish legislation from explanatory notes or news summaries. If a person is affected, prioritize safety, non-circulation and appropriate support channels. A specific report or legal decision needs professional advice and a review of the current statute. This overview describes England and Wales provisions and should not be read as a complete statement of law across every UK jurisdiction.