Brandon Tyler - AI Deepfake Pornography Conviction (UK)

Brandon Tyler, 26, a bar worker from Braintree, Essex, used AI deepfake tools over a period from March 2023 to May 2024 to create non-consensual pornographic images of 20 women he knew personally.

Tyler's activities included:

1. Manipulating images from victims' social media profiles to remove clothing (e.g., removing a bikini from one victim's photo)
2. Creating explicit sexual content depicting the victims in various scenarios
3. Posting 173 sexually explicit posts across forums glorifying rape culture
4. Posting victims' personal details (names, social media handles, phone numbers) alongside the images
5. Creating explicit deepfakes of a 16-year-old girl's prom photograph
6. Posting one victim's image alongside the question 'which one deserves to be gang raped?'

Tyler used online aliases to obscure his identity throughout the campaign. The case was one of the first major prosecutions under the UK's deepfake pornography laws introduced in April 2023.

• AI deepfake/nudify tools used to digitally strip clothing from real people's photographs
• Tools generated realistic enough imagery to cause severe psychological harm to victims
• No safeguards prevented the creation of intimate imagery of a minor

AI deepfake tools enabled the mass creation of non-consensual intimate imagery from publicly available social media photographs. The perpetrator weaponized this content for sexual harassment, combining the images with victims' personal information and posting on forums that promoted sexual violence. The ease of creating realistic deepfakes at scale amplified the harm beyond what would be possible with traditional image manipulation.

April 4, 2025: Tyler sentenced to 5 years imprisonment at Chelmsford Crown Court. Convicted of 18 counts of causing harassment without violence and 15 counts of sharing intimate photos/films for sexual gratification. Judge Alexander Mills described Tyler as showing 'the worst kind of toxic masculinity.'

This was one of the first major prosecutions under the UK's deepfake pornography laws (Online Safety Act amendment, April 2023).