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Women and gender
OpinionHong Kong Opinion
Clarissa Lui
Opinion
Clarissa Lui

To make AI safe, put women and girls at the heart of the technology

From deepfake porn to harassment, digital abuse disproportionately targets women and girls, supercharging the harm

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Women and girls are the main victims of tech-facilitated violence. An estimated 90 per cent of non-consensual deepfake pornography depicts women. Photo: dpa
Clarissa Lui
Clarissa Lui is a senior communications and advocacy officer at The Women’s Foundation, an NGO dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in Hong Kong.

In late February, Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data co-signed, alongside 60 overseas organisations, a statement to bring attention to the rising misuse of deepfakes. With rapid technological developments, growing AI integration and lower barriers to access, swift action is needed to safeguard women and girls against growing forms of technology-facilitated violence.

Technology-facilitated violence is not new; it has simply evolved. What began as pre-internet telephone harassment transformed into cyberstalking, while online abuse has emerged in parallel with the rise of the internet. Today, digital abuse, doxxing and harassment is widespread, disproportionately targeting women and girls: an estimated 90 per cent of non-consensual deepfake pornography depicts women.

The rise of AI has exacerbated the speed, scale and sophistication of these attacks. Artificial intelligence hasn’t created abuse, but it has supercharged it.

In light of these threats, public debate has emphasised the need for comprehensive regulation. While regulation is vital, the real shift must be proactive: instead of merely reacting, we should design solutions that place women and girls at the centre of technology, from creation and design to usage and governance.
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