Laura McClure made an impactful statement as she showed the image to her political peers
Earlier this month, MPs in New Zealand’s parliament saw a really strong moment when a woman politician showed a naked picture of herself.
Even though she was ‘absolutely terrified’, Laura McClure courageously revealed herself in front of her colleagues to make her point on May 14.
Although the nude image was heavily censored, it still created a clear image for the members of the House of Representatives.
McClure shared that it was surprisingly easy to create the explicit photo of herself using artificial intelligence, saying it only took her a few minutes.
She wants New Zealand to follow the examples of the UK, US, China, and Australia by putting strict laws in place to stop people from using this technology to make disturbing deepfakes.
To show how serious she thinks this issue is, the member of the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers (ACT) party made a digitally altered photo of herself.
Laura McClure mocked up a nude deepfake of herself to show her parliamentary peers just how simple it is to do (Instagram/@lauramcclure)
Holding the A3 printout tightly, McClure shared with her fellow politicians a few weeks back: “This picture shows me naked, but it’s not real. I made a bunch of deepfakes of myself in under five minutes.”
She pointed out how simple it is to find this kind of technology, saying: “I discovered it with a quick Google search.”
The MP mentioned that she used one of the many websites that let users upload a picture or video of someone and then ‘nudify’ them.
According to the Law Association of New Zealand, nearly 95 percent of online deepfake videos are made without consent and are pornographic, with 90 percent featuring women.
McClure explained that she made the deepfakes of herself to show how realistic they can be, and how much harm they can cause in people’s lives.
“For the victims, it is degrading and it is devastating,” she stated, as reported by the New Zealand Herald. “It felt really uncomfortable to stand in Parliament and show the photo of myself, even though I knew it wasn’t actually me.
“Holding that up in Parliament was super scary, it really shook me.
The mother of two from Christchurch also went on Instagram to inform her followers about her reasons, explaining that she wanted to show just how ‘real – and easy’ these deepfakes are to make.
Instagram/lauramcclure
McClure posted a short video of herself with a photo and wrote: “The issue isn’t the technology itself, but how it’s being misused to harm people. Our laws need to keep up.”
In the video, the politician mentioned: “I just did something a bit wild and something I never thought I would actually do in parliament. I showed this – it’s a deep fake I created of myself in just a few minutes, right from the internet.
“It was really, really simple to do.
“During the general debate in the house, I pointed out to all the other members of parliament how easy it is to create this and how much damage and harm it is causing, especially for our young Kiwis, and it’s more likely to affect our young girls.”
This concern is also shared by Vaughan Couillault, the President of the Secondary Principals’ Association.
The powerful moment stunned her fellow MPs (NZ Parliament)
“It’s not as simple and low-level as the person doing it thinks,” he stated. “This isn’t just cheap entertainment – it’s work that can really harm lives.”
McClure has suggested a change in the law that will regulate the online area of sexually explicit deepfakes, called the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill.
She explained how this would function: “[It] broadens current laws about revenge porn and private recordings, making sure that those who create or share deepfakes without permission can be held criminally responsible, and that victims have clear ways to get help and remove harmful content.”
Even though New Zealand has laws about harmful online content, none specifically deal with deepfakes.
McClure believes the country needs to catch up with other countries that have already taken steps to address the concerning abilities of AI.
In another post on Instagram, she said: “No one should ever be a victim of deepfake porn – especially without their permission. This is abuse, plain and simple. Our laws haven’t kept up, and that really needs to change.
“It’s time to close the gap and make sure offenders are held responsible. Now.
Featured Image Credit: NZ Parliament
