Deepfakes and Digital Exploitation: An Emerging Challenge to Women’s Online Safety

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has led to the emergence of deepfake technology, a form of synthetic media capable of producing highly realistic but fabricated images, videos, and audio. While it has legitimate uses, its misuse has raised serious concerns in the fields of cybersecurity and human rights. One of the most troubling outcomes is the rise of deepfake-based sexual exploitation, where women are disproportionately targeted. Such practices include identity manipulation, image morphing, and technology-driven harassment, which represent new forms of gendered cybercrime. These acts infringe upon an individual’s privacy, dignity, and reputation, and often result in severe psychological and emotional distress, along with social stigma. In India, existing legal provisions under the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 address offences such as obscenity, defamation, and online harassment. However, these laws were not designed to deal with the complexities of AI-driven harms. This paper examines deepfake technology as a tool of digital exploitation, evaluates the adequacy of current legal frameworks, and highlights the need for targeted legal reforms and victim-focused mechanisms to address such emerging challenges.