Lowestoft MP says AI-generated images left her feeling “powerless” now she's fighting back
She's calling the government to accelerate the legislation around nudeification apps.
The MP for Lowestoft has spoken about the impact of having images of her digitally manipulated using artificial intelligence, describing the experience as leaving her feeling “powerless”.
The images showed her in a bikini, something she says she would never post online.
Asato has previous experience working with violence against women and girls (VAWG) and has been campaigning for over a year and a half to ban nudeification apps, as well as publicly speaking out about various issues with pornography.
"I felt powerless"
Speaking to us, Jess Asato said she felt sick when she first saw the images.
“I felt sick… bewildered and odd,” she said. “It looked very much like me. I knew it wasn’t me, but it really looked like it was me.”
She said the most distressing aspect was the possibility that members of the public could believe the images were real.
“The real kind of sense of violation is that somebody might see that picture of me in a bikini and think that is actually me,” she said. “I have not consented to be photographed or put my photograph of me in a bikini out publicly.”
Asato said the issue was about consent and digital manipulation, rather than clothing.
“Lots of people have been saying, ‘Oh, it’s just a bikini, that’s not sexualised, is it?’ Well, it is when you have digitally stripped a woman and put her in a bikini,” she said. “That is the essence of this, and we’ve got to stop it.”
She also told us that it's predominantly women whose images are being manipulated and reaccounts seeing depictions where women have been covered in blood, bruises, bullet holes and even one example where a Jewish woman was put in Auschwitz.
"They want to silence women"
She said those responsible for creating and sharing manipulated images aim to silence women online.
“I felt powerless, and I think that is the emotion that people who do this want to make you feel,” she said. “They also want to silence women.”
Asato said women are often told they should not be on public platforms if they do not want to face abuse.
“They say things like, ‘If you don’t want your photo digitally manipulated like this, then you shouldn’t be in public life,’” she said.
She said experiences like this can have long-lasting emotional consequences and explained why she had chosen to speak publicly.
"I am just going to use this to try to make our laws stronger"
We asked her about what changes she wants to see moving forward, she said:
"AI can be a fantastic tool. It is a creative tool, but this is simply being used to sexually assault women digitally sexually. It is being used to humiliate and denigrate women.
"99% of images that are uploaded to nudification apps are of women and girls. There is no use for this particular feature...
“From my perspective, I am just going to use this to try to make our laws stronger...
"I really hope the government's going to announce an acceleration of the legislation to ban nudification apps and features."
"I'm also calling on the government to ensure that the law that's already in place through the Data Access Act, which would criminalise the creation of intimate images without consent. I'm hoping that they will be really, really bringing that so that it becomes law quickly."
Asato also said clearer labelling of AI-generated or manipulated images could help protect people by making it immediately clear when content has been altered.
Government action
The Government has recently promised to clamp down on tools that create deepfake images, whilst media watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation into whether Elon Musk's social media platform X has breached UK law.
The regulator will investigate whether the platform breached its duties to protect UK users under the Online Safety Act, after calls from MPs to block access to the site.
In response, Mr Musk has accused the UK Government of being "fascist" and trying to curb free speech.
Responding to a post on X claiming the UK arrests more people for social media posts than "any other country on earth", Mr Musk wrote: "Real fascism is arresting thousands of people for social media posts."
Support
If you’re affected by issues raised in this article, there is help available, with a number of specialist organisations offering free, confidential support for content removal and emotional assistance.
These include Childline, Take It Down, Report Harmful Content and The Cyber Helpline.
You can also report the incident to the police.