Canada’s new law criminalizing sexualized AI deepfakes ‘too little, too late,’ woman says
Canada’s new law criminalizing sexualized AI deepfakes ‘too little, too late,’ woman says
Publish Date: 2026-06-26 04:00:00
Source Domain: www.cbc.ca
A Halifax woman whose former classmate was acquitted after creating and distributing a nude deepfake of her says she’s relieved Canada has a new law criminalizing the distribution of sexualized deepfakes, but disappointed the law wasn’t created in time for her.
“It’s too little, too late,” said the woman, whom CBC News is identifying only by her initials, B.L.E., due to a publication ban.
“I can’t disagree,” said Justice Minister Sean Fraser, speaking at an event in Halifax Thursday. “This is a change that should have been made before, but it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
Federal law redefines ‘intimate images’
B.L.E.’s former high school classmate was charged with distributing intimate images.
According to an agreed statement of facts, he admitted to taking photos of her and some other classmates from social media, using artificial intelligence to make them appear naked, then sharing them without permission between November 2023 and February 2024.
But in March 2026, a Nova Scotia judge acquitted him, ruling the synthetic images did not meet the definition of intimate images as they were then defined in Canada’s Criminal Code.
On June 18, Bill C-16, also known as the Protecting Victims Act, received royal assent, changing that definition.
An intimate image has now been redefined to include: “a visual representation that is made by any electronic or mechanical means, including by means of artificial intelligence software . . . if the depiction is likely to be mistaken for a visual recording of that person.”
At the crux of the issue in B.L.E.’s case was that the old definition required the image to be a visual “recording” of a person.
In her decision, Judge Bronwyn Duffy noted the images included “up-close, realistic, easily visible breasts and genitalia, imposed on the real faces of these complainants.”
She stated that lawyers on both sides had agreed the only matter in dispute was whether the images met the definition of intimate…
