{"id":1975813,"date":"2026-06-06T05:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1975813"},"modified":"2026-06-06T05:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T02:35:20","slug":"women-in-jess-asato-mps-constituency-want-to-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1975813","title":{"rendered":"Women in Jess Asato MP’s constituency want to fight back"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/03ce\/live\/afa35010-6111-11f1-9134-bfd933b9750c.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Amanda Steel said women were abused for speaking out about certain issues<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Women in Jess Asato’s Suffolk constituency have said they need to “fight” back against social media users who generate sexualised imagery of people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Labour MP for Lowestoft has said she is taking legal action against Elon Musk’s xAI through the High Court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She claimed that the platform had been used to create “disgusting” images of her \u2013 including a fake picture of her in a bikini \u2013 by its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Grok.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Her constituents told the BBC they were horrified and that having their images manipulated in such a way would be degrading and a violation of their identity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Susanna Wallis questioned why women should have to constantly fight for their rights in 2026<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“To hear that somebody’s been violated in this way just shocks me \u2013 I’m really shocked,” artist Susanna Wallis said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Women seem to have to keep coming up with another fight and we have to keep going to the next frontier of the fight and through another.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Businesswoman Amanda Steel, who runs Sam’s Cafe in Lowestoft, said the rise of nudification tools meant she did not want to promote herself on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“You’re watching what can be done to other women and you don’t want to put anything out there that could be used,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“There’s so much negativity around women and women’s images, but you can put your head above the parapet for what you’re fighting for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We have to fight back.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Tracey McFee said AI could be used for both good and bad <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tracey McFee, who helps out at the cafe, described the issue as being a “real scary situation” and said she feared for the safety of her daughters and granddaughters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“How am I going to be able to protect them? I’m horrified,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“AI can be a great educational tool and used very positively to empower women in business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“But I think this is a stark reminder that there is also a very, very dark side.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Erica Thompson said images should never be tampered with without the person’s consent<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Erica Thompson is a beautician and aesthetics clinician who uses AI to show customers how certain treatments could help them or how a styling might look.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But for that, she first always has to gain their consent to use their images.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“This is the major thing that has happened with Jess, she hasn’t yet given her consent, and so her power’s been taken away,” she told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“And that stays with you, that’s a violation of your identity which just destroys your confidence.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Hairdresser Caroline Parnis worries about how the rise of AI on social media may affect the younger generation, like her 14-year-old daughter<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Caroline Parnis, from the Sensory Studio at Blade hairdressers, said she immediately thought of her teenage daughter when she heard what had happened to Asato.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“She is at a very vulnerable age, and this can happen to anyone, this doesn’t just affect women and children, it can affect everybody in society,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Even when I went on holiday last year, I didn’t put any pictures of myself in a bikini on social media.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"JohnJohn Fairhall\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Tanya Mayfield uses the art of photography to help women let go of their insecurities<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Tanya Mayfield is an empowerment photographer who runs her own studio and strives to make women “feel good in their skin, whether it’s with clothes on or off”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said she was “absolutely worried” that images she took and shared on social media could then be used and manipulated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s really scary because I’m putting ladies out there who have given me their consent, but now maybe people can take those images and tweak them,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Anyone who walks into my studio has full rights, but [if I were to] take away someone’s privacy or edit them without consent that is my business over.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"BBC\/ReutersBBC\/Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
MP for Lowestoft, Jess Asato, is taking on one of the richest men in the world, Elon Musk<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The MP, who filed her lawsuit on Wednesday, is seeking damages but also wants to set a precedent for companies to be liable for the design of AI systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Despite numerous approaches from the BBC for comment, xAI has not responded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Since vowing to take action, Asato said she had had a “huge response” from people voicing their support but also from women who said they, too, had had their images nudified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“How is it that tech companies can create products that can create this disgusting material? Where is the respect for women?” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“You wouldn’t walk up to someone in this street and just start taking their clothes off them. So you shouldn’t be able to do that to a woman online.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The filing of the lawsuit came just hours before the conviction of Anwar Mohamed, of Anchor Street, in Lowestoft, who had previously contacted the politician.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 59-year-old was found guilty of sending a communication or article of an indecent or grossly offensive nature, for which he will be sentenced on 3 July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He had also been charged with sending communications that threaten death or serious harm \u2013 a charge which the court said would lie on file.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Follow Suffolk news on <\/i>BBC Sounds<\/i>, <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, <\/i>Instagram<\/i> and <\/i>X<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c33232n0l8yo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/03ce\/live\/afa35010-6111-11f1-9134-bfd933b9750c.jpg”] John Fairhall\/BBC Amanda Steel said women were abused for speaking out about certain issues Women in Jess Asato’s Suffolk constituency have said they need to “fight” back against social media users who generate sexualised imagery of people. The Labour MP for Lowestoft has said she is taking legal action against Elon Musk’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-1975813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1975813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975813\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1975813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1975813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1975813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}