Is the global crackdown on nonconsensual deepfake porn starting to properly bite?
It seems so. Following tough new rules regarding creating and sharing nonconsensual deepfake porn being introduced in countries including the UK and US, Australian authorities are attempting to show that those who break deepfake porn laws could face financially crippling punishment.
Australia’s online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, is pushing for a man charged with posting deepfake images of prominent women on the recently-defunct Mr Deepfakes site to be fined the maximum fine of AUD $450,000 (US $290,000).
Anthony Rotondo posted “intimate” deepfake images of the women, who have not been publicly named, on the Mr Deepfakes site, and previously failed to comply with an order in Australia to remove them, while he was based in the Philippines. The eSafety commissioner launched a case against him when he returned to Australia.
Rotondo had already been fined a total of AUD $25,000 (US $16,000), in 2023, for failing to comply with the order to remove the images.
Sending a message
The deepfake case against Rotondo is the first of its kind to reach courts in Australia, with the eSafety Commissioner hoping that if it successfully imposes a huge fine, it could send a message that those who breach nonconsensual deepfake porn laws will be fervently pursued and punished.
In 2021, Australia introduced the Online Safety Act, which empowered the eSafety Commissioner to fine distributors of deepfake porn, if they don’t comply with orders to remove the material.
In recent years fast advances in deepfake technology have made it relatively easy for anyone with solid computer knowledge to create explicit material falsely depicting people who haven’t consented to be featured in it. Governments have moved to amend or introduce laws dealing with this new form of porn, which is often used for revenge porn, extortion, and other nefarious uses.
Recently US President Donald Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law, making sharing sexually explicit photos and videos without the consent of those depicted in it illegal. The law included AI-generated deepfake adult content, although critics of it suggest its overly broad language could be problematic and leaves it open for misuse.
The UK government is set to make creating non-consensual deepfake porn, and preparing technology elements to create such content, criminal offences.
Earlier in 2025 Mr Deepfakes, believed to have been the world’s biggest site for deepfake porn content, was shut down. In 2022 it was revealed that the site had 13 million visitors each month.
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