Concern 371 · Working draft · editorial review in progress
Non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII)
Non-consensual intimate imagery is intimate material shared or threatened without the depicted person's agreement, including AI-made fakes.
Understanding the concern
A person can be harmed even when the scene never happened. Others may believe the image, and the target may face humiliation, threats or pressure to pay money. Consent to an ordinary photograph does not mean consent to turn it into an intimate image or distribute it.
The key issue is control over one's identity and intimate depiction. Calling it a fake can explain how it was made, but does not undo the harm. Reporting and removal processes should not require a victim to prove that an invented event occurred. Services need to recognise altered imagery and threats as part of the problem.
An example
Someone threatens to circulate a fabricated intimate image unless the person depicted complies with a demand.
Illustrative unless identified as a documented case.
Words in plain English
- AI
- Software that learns patterns from examples or uses rules to perform tasks such as recognizing images or generating text. It can make mistakes and does not understand every situation as a person would.
- NCII
- Nonconsensual intimate imagery: intimate images shared or created without the person's agreement. Fabricated images can also cause real harm.
Evidence and its limits
eSafety explains real and altered image-based abuse. Its legal and removal procedures apply to its jurisdiction, rather than every country.
Australian eSafety Commissioner · Public explainer
FAQ about Image-Based Abuse ↗ (opens in a new tab)Consent, threats and altered intimate imagery; legal and removal procedures described are jurisdiction-specific.
Broader frameworks and background
These resources provide context. They do not establish every claim in this concern.
A question to discuss
Can a person quickly report fabricated intimate imagery and threats without being forced to repeatedly expose themselves to the material?
Keep track of different views, what needs checking, and any next step in your own discussion notes.
Open discussion notes →Principles for the conversation
Before you finish · reflect together
Virtues and principles to consider
Virtues are qualities we practice in how we treat people and make choices. They are not scores for judging someone. Use these ideas to explore what a thoughtful response could look like.
Justice
Justice means fair treatment, fair procedures, and attention to who receives benefits and burdens. It asks whether people with less power can be heard and seek repair.
Look at outcomes across different groups and individual cases. Provide a usable way to challenge decisions and correct harm. Equal wording in a policy does not guarantee equal treatment in practice.
Ask together: Who benefits, who bears the cost, and who can challenge the decision?
Dignity
Dignity means recognizing each person's worth regardless of usefulness, status, or a system's score. People deserve respect and a voice in matters that affect them.
Explain important decisions, avoid humiliating treatment, and keep room for a person's story. Do not treat a prediction as a complete account of who someone is.
Ask together: Does this use treat each person as someone whose experience matters?
Listening
Listening means trying to understand someone's experience before preparing an answer. People who use a service, work with it, or are judged by it may notice problems its designers miss.
Invite people to describe what happened in their own words. Repeat back what you understood and let them correct it. A quiet person or a complaint that is hard to measure may still reveal something important.
Ask together: Whose experience have we not heard yet?
Editorial ratings
These are editorial judgments from the register, not measured probabilities or predictions about your situation.
About the register and scoring →More ways to explore
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