Bundesjustizministerin Stefanie Hubig of the SPD plans to introduce three new sections into the German Criminal Code to curb digital violence, according to a draft law cited by “Bild” in its Saturday edition.
The proposed penalties would allow up to two years’ imprisonment for anyone who creates discrediting deepfakes of another person, such as falsified pornographic material. “Pornographic deepfakes are a particularly severe form of digital violence” Hubig told “Bild”. “They show how the sinister misuse of new technology can humiliate, degrade, intimidate and wield power”.
A similar maximum sentence would apply to anyone who secretly takes a sexualized photograph, digitally produces one, or makes it accessible to a third party. The law would therefore criminalise acts such as up‑skirting-capturing hidden images beneath a skirt-under this provision.
Covert digital surveillance would also be punishable with up to two years’ prison if the act is capable of inflicting serious harm on the victim.
According to the “Bild” report, the draft will be coordinated with the Chancellery next week and is expected to be adopted by the cabinet in the spring.
Hubig stressed that digital violence is as brutal as physical violence. “I make no distinction between analogue and digital violence; every assault is one too many” she said. She added that it poses a societal problem that must be addressed collectively.