Australian Teen Admits Guilt in Historic Deepfake Porn Case

In a historic legal proceeding, a 19-year-old Australian man has admitted responsibility for crafting deepfake pornography, marking the first instance under a recently enacted national law. William Hamish Yeates faces charges that could result in up to seven years of incarceration for manipulating sexual images without consent and distributing them. His guilty plea on Wednesday reduced the initial 20 Commonwealth charges, with prosecutors withdrawing some after his acknowledgment of four offenses.

Deepfake Technology Targets Women and Girls

Experts highlight deepfake pornography as a growing threat to gender equality, particularly in image-based abuse and school bullying. The technology, driven by artificial intelligence, often focuses on women and girls, with statistics revealing that 98% of online deepfake material is pornographic. Julie Inman Grant, a spokesperson for the eSafety Commission, noted that explicit deepfakes have surged by 550% annually since 2019, emphasizing the alarming scale of the issue.

The court learned that Yeates shared unapproved images of his alleged victim across multiple X accounts, leveraging digital platforms to spread the content. While Australia’s federal prosecutors confirmed this is the first of its kind, some states already have legislation addressing deepfake material. The eSafety Commission has been actively pushing to restrict apps that ‘nudify’ individuals, aiming to curb the proliferation of AI-generated explicit content.

“There is compelling and concerning data that explicit deepfakes have increased on the internet as much as 550% year on year since 2019,” Julie Inman Grant stated after advising parliament on the new laws in 2024. “It’s a bit shocking to note that pornographic videos make up 98% of the deepfake material currently online and 99% of that imagery is of women and girls.”

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