South Belfast MLA Kate Nicholl has stressed the urgent need for artificial intelligence (AI) regulation following reports that Meta is investigating accounts on Facebook and Instagram for sharing AI-generated content that degrades and sexualises people with disabilities.

The Alliance MLA described the availability of such material as a "wake-up call" for policymakers, highlighting the risks posed by generative AI tools when used to create abusive and non-consensual content.

Kate Nicholl stated: "The reports of AI-generated content sexualising disabled people being freely available on social media platforms should disturb and horrify all of us. The content being pushed by these accounts is completely unacceptable and morally repugnant, and should serve as an urgent wake-up call to all policymakers about the risks of AI and the need for guardrails in all jurisdictions. "Whether it is ableism, misogyny or extremist ideologies, it is clear that social media platforms are not doing enough to enforce acceptable standards and remove abusive content from their platforms. It is also easier than ever to create this kind of abusive content. These problems existed long before generative AI, but the increasingly wide and free availability of applications and tools that enable people to create this content must be addressed."

In response to these concerns, the MLA has announced plans to introduce an amendment to the Justice Bill. The proposed change aims to ban the creation and possession of applications and tools specifically designed to produce non-consensual sexually explicit images.

She added: "That is why I'm seeking to bring an amendment to the Justice Bill to ban the creation and possession of tools and applications that exist for the purpose of creating non-consensual sexually explicit images. We must make it as challenging as possible for this content to be created and do more to change societal attitudes that make people believe this behaviour is acceptable.

"As I develop this amendment, I am keen to speak to all interested parties and organisations to ensure we make the law as robust and effective as possible. If you have views to share, please get in touch."