ACT MP Laura McClure has told a parliamentary committee her bill targeting sexually explicit deepfakes is a "first step," and is urging MPs to look at wider law reform, education, and possible rules for AI.

McClure, the ACT Party's Education Spokesperson, spoke to the Social Services and Community Committee about the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill. The bill passed its first vote in Parliament unanimously on 20 May 2026 and was sent to the committee for the public to have their say. Submissions closed on 19 June 2026 (Parliament).

A deepfake is a fake image or video made using artificial intelligence. In this case, it means sexually explicit images or videos made to look like a real person, without that person agreeing to it. The bill would change two laws — the Crimes Act 1961 and the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 — so that making, sharing, or selling these fake images without consent is illegal. McClure has said the bill would treat a fake AI nude image the same as a real nude photo shared without consent (ACT Party).

She told the committee that police find it hard to prosecute deepfake cases under the current law because they have to prove the person meant to cause harm. McClure said a successful prosecution earlier in the year only happened because the victim's family built a large case themselves. She said that gap is what her bill aims to fix (RNZ).

McClure also told MPs the Harmful Digital Communications Act, passed in 2015, needs a full review. She suggested a "national hashing register" as one idea worth looking at. A hash is like a digital fingerprint for a file — once an image is registered, online platforms could use that fingerprint to find and block the same image being shared again. She said deepfakes could also be used for scams, not just pornography, but called that a "massive piece of work" for a future government (RNZ).

The bill was drawn from the member's bill ballot — a random draw that lets individual MPs put forward laws — and has support from across Parliament. Te Pāti Māori formally backed it before the first vote (ACT Party). McClure has framed the law around the idea that people should have control over their own image (ACT Party).

The wider issue is that AI technology is changing faster than the law can keep up. The Harmful Digital Communications Act is over ten years old and was written before AI tools that can make deepfakes were easy to get. The requirement to prove someone meant to cause harm has made it hard for police to act, especially when images spread through private group chats where it is hard to show who intended harm.

The hashing idea McClure raised is already used in a similar way. Major platforms use technology called PhotoDNA to find and remove known images of child abuse. Using the same approach for deepfakes and other non-consensual intimate images would need new systems, cooperation between tech companies and government, and a way for victims or police to register images. McClure raised it as something to consider, not as part of the bill itself.

The bill only covers sexually explicit deepfakes, leaving other uses like fraud for later. That is a common approach for member's bills: keep the law narrow enough to keep support from across Parliament, which is needed to pass under New Zealand's MMP voting system. The unanimous first vote shows parties agree on the basic idea that non-consensual sexual deepfakes should be illegal. The committee stage is where that agreement gets tested against the details of how the law would actually work.

McClure's call for wider reform, education, and AI regulation goes well beyond what her bill does. She is framing the bill as a starting point, not an endpoint. Whether a future government takes up that bigger work is an open question.

The committee will now look at the public submissions it received before the 19 June deadline and report back to Parliament. Whether the bill keeps moving will depend on whether the support shown at the first vote holds once MPs have debated possible changes and the committee's recommendations.