Equity, the UK performers' union, answered a speech by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy on 30 September by renewing its call for personality rights, a legal right over one's own face, body, voice and likeness. Nandy promised to tackle abusive and non-consensual images and have them removed for good, after campaigner Georgia Harrison told Labour's conference about private videos of her posted online.
General secretary Paul W Fleming welcomed the pledge but said much of the harmful material now circulating is AI-generated, often unauthorised and frequently sexual or violent. He argued that performers are especially exposed because their work is visual and widely available as recordings, though he stressed that anyone can be targeted.
The union wants ministers to act quickly on personality rights covering unauthorised AI replicas, which it says would greatly strengthen people's hand against deepfakes.
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