'Yes, this kind of crime is sexual': Deepfake porn victim speaks out - 1News

Summer Murphy, a victim of deepfake pornography, has spoken out about her experience. She hopes to raise awareness of the harm caused by AI-manipulated images and support law changes to help future victims.

What happened

In 2024, when Murphy was 19, she was one of four young women targeted by an offender who created pornographic deepfake images using photos from their social media accounts. Some of Murphy’s original pictures were taken when she was 14 or 15. Dozens of explicit images of Murphy were uploaded to a pornography website with her real name and an insulting description. The images were also sent to her friends and family. In court, Murphy said the offending had changed her life and that she now lives with fear and struggles to trust people. The offender pleaded guilty in September 2025 and was given 24 months’ intensive supervision. A key point in the sentencing was whether the crime should be treated as a sexual offense; the judge ruled that it was. The case coincides with Parliament's call for submissions on the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill, which aims to expand the definition of "intimate visual recording" to include digitally altered or synthesized images.