Image Abuse

ITV1 and Channel 4 reported that a super complaint had been lodged against police in England and Wales over the handling of image-based abuse, including non-consensual explicit images and videos and AI-generated deepfakes. ITV1 said more than a hundred people had contributed to the complaint, while Channel 4 said lawyers for 100 people who had reported incidents had filed it. Both channels said the complaint concerned delays, failures to investigate, and victims having to gather evidence themselves. Both channels reported that a review of 39 police forces in England and Wales found the average charge rate for image-based abuse offences last year was 4.5%. Channel 4 added that in some forces the rate fell below 1%, that 80% of victims reported failures to gather critical evidence such as interviewing suspects or seizing devices, that none said they were properly signposted to specialist support, and that almost 50% said they would never report image-based abuse to police again. ITV1 reported that calls to the revenge porn helpline rose from 521 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 by 2025. The channels carried accounts from people involved in the complaint. ITV1 reported that BBC presenter Jess Davies said images of her were created after a user prompted the chatbot Grok, that police initially set low expectations, and that it took three months for police to take her statement; South Wales Police said they investigated her case, could not identify a suspect, and were continuing to address her concerns. Channel 4 reported Jodie's account that images taken from her social media were posted online in summer 2020, that police initially said they could do nothing if she did not know who was behind it, and that a man was eventually prosecuted after further reports involving AI deepfakes. Channel 4 also reported Juliet's account that intimate images were posted in an online forum after a friend's social media account was hacked, that her case was initially dropped before another force took it up, and that after an arrest and bail she was not told the suspect's identity. Channel 4 interviewed Labour MP Jess Asato, who said she was suing Elon Musk's company xAI over deepfakes created using its AI assistant Grok. She said 98% of reports to the revenge porn helpline are from women, that platforms often say reported content does not breach their terms, and that X removed images of her after she contacted a lawyer. ITV1 interviewed solicitor Claire Powell of the Centre for Women's Justice and Not Your Porn, who described the complaint as a process for police bodies to investigate and said survivors had described repeated trauma; she called for quicker police action and proper investigation strategies.

Key Claims by Channel

Claim
Reported by all 2 channels
More than 100 people contributed to a super-complaint against police over delays in investigations and victims gathering evidence themselves.
Across 39 police forces in England and Wales, the average charge rate for image-based abuse offences last year was 4.5%.	Reported by Channel 4
Only on one channel
Calls to the revenge porn helpline rose from 521 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 by 2025.	Not reported by Channel 4
In some police forces, the average charge rate for image-based abuse dropped below 1%.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
80% of victims reported police failures to gather critical evidence, such as interviewing suspects or seizing devices.		Not reported by ITV
No victims said they were properly signposted to specialist support services.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Almost 50% of victims said they would never report image-based abuse to police again.		Not reported by ITV
South Wales Police said they investigated Jess Davies's case, could not identify a suspect, and were continuing to address her concerns.	Not reported by Channel 4	Reported by ITV
BBC presenter Jess Davies said AI-generated images of her were created after a user prompted Grok, and that police took three months to take her statement after a discouraging initial response.	Not reported by Channel 4	Reported by ITV
One victim, Jodie, said photos taken from her social media were posted online in summer 2020, that police initially said they could do nothing if she did not know who was responsible, and that a man was eventually prosecuted after images were manipulated into AI deepfakes.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Jodie said she felt suicidal during that period.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Another victim, Juliet, said intimate images were posted online after her friend's social media account was hacked, that her case was initially dropped before another force took it up, and that she was not told the suspect's identity after an arrest and bail.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Labour MP Jess Asato is suing Elon Musk's company xAI over its AI assistant Grok allowing users to create deepfakes of her and others.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Jess Asato said 98% of reports to the revenge porn helpline are from women.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Jess Asato said tech platforms often claimed reported content did not violate their terms, and that X removed images of her after she contacted a lawyer.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV
Solicitor Claire Powell said the super complaint is a complaint to police bodies and, if accepted, would have a period to investigate.	Not reported by Channel 4	Reported by ITV
Claire Powell called for proper investigation strategies and quick action, noting that some offences must be charged within a six-month window.	Not reported by Channel 4	Reported by ITV
Claire Powell said one survivor told researchers she had nightmares about the interview room where she spoke to police, six years after her investigation.	Not reported by Channel 4	Reported by ITV
A police body responding to the super-complaint characterised image-based abuse as a serious crime and said such offences should be treated seriously.	Reported by Channel 4	Not reported by ITV

This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.