Question reference: S6W-00472
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 3 June 2021
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Current status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been (a) charged and (b) convicted of altering images or producing deepfake pornographic material in each year since 2017.
Answer
This information is not held centrally. Altering images or producing deepfake pornographic material is not a specific offence, therefore:
(a) the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal service are unable to separately identify such offences from their database and provide number of charges and
(b) The Scottish Government is also unable to separately identify convictions from their database for the same reason.
Altering images or producing deepfake pornographic material is not a specific offence and the production of such material in itself, would probably not amount to a criminal offence. However, the distribution, publication or sale etc. of such material, where it appears to depict a person who has not consented to such a depiction may amount to a criminal offence. Depending on the facts and circumstances, this may be capable of being charged under offences including section 2 of the Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 (non-consensual sharing of intimate images), section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 (threatening or abusive behaviour) or section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 (misuse of a public electronic communications network). However, the Scottish Government’s and COPFS data only details numbers of convictions and charges under these acts, and not detailed information on the specific conduct which resulted in the charge or conviction.