Watchdog recommends use of ‘hash-matching’ to allow images to be identified at scale wherever they are shared

Tech platforms should combat the rapid rise in explicit deepfakes and “revenge porn” by using a database of images to protect women and girls online, according to new guidance being drawn up by the UK communications watchdog.

The move is part of a raft of measures proposed by Ofcom to tackle online misogyny, harassment and the sharing of intimate images without the subject’s consent – often referred to as “revenge porn”.

Women are five times more likely to be victims of intimate image abuse.

Nearly 70% of boys aged 11-14 have been exposed to online content that promotes misogyny and other harmful views.

Almost a quarter of teenage girls (23%) regularly see content that objectifies or demeans women.

Online domestic abuse is under-reported – half of survivors (49%) told no one about it.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents in a survey (73%) had experienced online threats and abuse.