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Act Now! Petition to STOP Deep-fake Exploitation & Voice Theft

Published on July 23, 2025

Dear MCW members,

Protect Women and Human Dignity from AI Deepfake Abuse — There is an urgent need for laws or regulations to protect citizens. The Montreal Council of Women encourages its members to sign this petition and share it with their connections.

The Montreal Council of Women (MCW) and the National Council of Women (NCWC) of Canada look forward to creating and encouraging policy and exploring this topic with you in more detail in the coming months.

The MCW and NCWC are deeply concerned about the impact of AI on Canadian society and in particular on women’s and children’s privacy, safety and security in this rapidly evolving era of AI. Indeed, this very issue was accepted as the 2025-26 Common Program of the NCWC during the recent AGM held in Montreal.

The MCW working with the NCWC intends to submit a resolution in regard to the need for robust government policy and regulation in this domain and to schedule a national event of expert panelists to discuss the pertinent issues, possible solutions and determine our future actions.

MCW will be working with NCWC calling on government leaders, senators, and tech and telecom platforms to protect women, vulnerable communities, and the population and for the urgent implementation of AI policies and governance.

When we look at the data, here is what we find:

  • Almost 100% of deepfake pornography targets women, and women trying to advocate on this same issue become targets themselves. Campaigns such as #MyImageMyChoice have been a strong organization that, namely, tries to shut down sites dedicated to this type of AI deepfakes online abuse and empowering victims to speak out. While famous women being victims of deepfake AI porn can have the support of their fanbase to force an organization to stop the spread of these fake online pictures, other women lacking this type of support may find it harder to fight themselves against malicious perpetrators. The results can be devastating: a tarnished reputation, privacy violated, and a crush to self-esteem. In the USA, the “Take It Down Act” makes it illegal for anyone to share online nonconsensual, explicit images, real or computer-generated, and tech platforms are urged to remove any of these images within 48 hours of being notified. In Canada, clear provincial regulations and legislation surrounding the topic have not yet been drafted.
  • Deepfake porn is actually "out of control" where there was a 54% increase on nonconsensual deepfake porn videos were uploaded in 2023 compared to 2022.
  • Deepfakes not only attack women in vulnerable communities but also attack business leaders who have an increased risk of being targeted by malicious actors trying to impersonate them. Deepfake fraud has also seen a staggering 1740% increase in North America in 2023. In Canada, 91% of business leaders worry that Generative AI will be used to spread disinformation campaigns.

What we will be calling for:

  • Clear nationwide establishment of laws against the use, sharing of deepfakes.
  • Criminalize unauthorized creation or use of someone’s identity for any purpose, including harassment, sexual exploitation, or financial fraud.
  • Recognize biometric impersonation (voice, face) as identity theft, with both civil and criminal penalties.
  • Ensure support and trauma-informed support for deepfake victims.
  • Implementation of verification systems that detect deepfakes and protects against fraudulent uses of them by any malicious actors.

The case against deepfakes is clear and of importance. There is an urgent need for laws and regulations to protect all citizens, especially women and children.

Please visit the following websites for more information on the subject: