Labour MP Wants Tech-Facilitated Violence Against Women Defined In Law
Labour Jess Asato has commenced legal proceedings against Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI (Alamy)
5 min read
Labour MP Jess Asato has called on the government to create a legal definition of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, arguing that stronger protections are needed to tackle the growing threat of AI-generated abuse.
Earlier this year, GrokAI – Elon Musk’s xAI company’s tool – generated non-consensual sexualised images of Asato, including bikini photos and a video showing her being chloroformed and prepared for a sexual assault.
The MP for Lowestoft, elected in 2024, has filed a civil claim in the High Court against xAI, alleging breaches of UK data protection law and misuse of private information.
Asato told PoliticsHome that the Online Safety Act, which started to come into force last year, must be strengthened to protect women, girls and other vulnerable people online.
As part of this, the Labour government should consider creating a statutory definition of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, she said.
“At the moment, the violence against women and girls guidance from Ofcom is very comprehensive, but nobody's following it,” she said.
“That's partly because it doesn't have statutory teeth, and so from my perspective, there is a very good case, which has been made for a while by the women's sector, that the VAWG [violence against women and girls] guidance should be made mandatory and given proper regulatory status.”
Asato hopes that her case against X can set a legal precedent by testing whether an AI developer can be held liable for the design and deployment of its system, rather than the person who prompted the generation of the content.
She said she also hopes that ministers reconsider the introduction of a third-party advocacy body that could assess individual cases, collate evidence of breaches across multiple platforms, and monitor the implementation of the Online Safety Act, explaining that when she discovered the GrokAI-generated images of her, there was “nowhere else for me to go” after X said the content reported did not go against the platform’s standards.
During the passage of the Online Safety Bill, peers tabled several amendments designed to give individuals stronger representation. Baroness Kidron and others tabled an amendment to establish an Advocacy Body for Children, but it was not accepted. As it stands, Ofcom cannot investigate individual cases.
“That was a real missed opportunity,” Asato said.
“One of the problems Ofcom has is that if it's not able to collate individual cases, it isn't able to see the sum total of the harm that is occurring, and therefore be able to prove back to the companies that they are not following the Online Safety Act.
“Calls are definitely growing for there to be much stronger accountability, either given to Ofcom or another body entirely.”
Dex Hunter-Torricke, who spent more than a decade leading communications for some of the world's biggest technology companies, including senior roles advising Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt, told PoliticsHome he found it "extraordinary" that the burden is placed on individuals like Asato to have to take legal action against platforms to prevent the generation of non-consensual images.
"Surely this is the entire point of passing legislation to protect people online," he said.
"We need to have a better systemic fix for that. Most people don't have the resources all the time to go and defend themselves, especially if that might involve a legal case. It's very, very troubling that after so many years arguing about how to protect people online, we still don't actually have our right mechanisms in place as a country."
Asato has welcomed the government’s announcement that it will go ahead with a ban on certain social media platforms for under-16-year-olds, describing it as a “big, brave step”, alongside other announcements such as new plans by the government to force Big Tech companies to activate built-in features or implement technical solutions on smartphones to detect and block nude images for children.
Despite her experience on the site, Asato has decided to continue using X as a social media platform, and not say when asked whether the government should stay on it.
“Many politicians have left X for very understandable reasons of safety and well-being, but I stay on it because I don't want to be bullied off a platform,” she said.
Another Labour MP, Alistair Strathern, has proposed a new law to make Relationships and Sex Education mandatory up to 18 to help combat violence against women and girls.
Strathern, who is co-chair of the Labour Group for Men and Boys and a former teacher, said: "For too long, children in further education have missed out because of gaps in the provision of Relationships and Sex Education.
"At a time when the worst corners of the internet are preying on teenagers, with their own harmful takes on what makes a healthy relationship, we surely owe young people far better than this.
‘My bill will put this right and make it mandatory for all settings to give children the space, support and advice they need as they navigate this formative stage. With 16-19-year-olds facing the highest rates of domestic abuse of any age group, the real-world consequences of failing to act couldn’t be clearer.”
PoliticsHome has contacted the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for comment.
