Addressing the Gendered Harms of AI and the Tech Industry - Prof Clare McGlynn

How are artificial intelligence and other technologies exacerbating misogyny and undermining women’s rights and safety? What are the emerging forms of violence against women and girls being facilitated by AI, such as deepfakes and nudify apps? What is driving so many men to view and create such material, and how is it shaping their sexual attitudes and behaviours? What actions are needed to address these harms, and by whom? For many years, Prof Clare McGlynn has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle the devastating impacts of online violence against women and to establish stronger forms of regulation. Central to her work on sexual violence are the perspectives of victims and survivors, particularly their understandings of what justice means to them.

 In this episode, we explore her approach to these issues and some of the challenges involved, including the masculinist dynamics of the highly profitable tech and porn companies, and obstacles in attempting to regulate the transformation of these industries in recent years.  

Clare also talks about recent aspects of her influential advocacy work.  For example, she provided legal expertise to the successful campaign to persuade the UK Government to adopt a law criminalising the creation and solicitation of sexually explicit ‘deepfakes’. We explore too her work to reduce the easy and growing availability, and adverse impacts, of extreme and abusive pornography (including ‘strangulation porn’ and ‘incest porn’). She outlines her involvement in the campaign to tackle the harms of strangulation in mainstream pornography. 

We conclude by discussing with Clare what led her to focus increasingly on online and tech-facilitated harms in her work, and how her sense of responsibility and justice sustains her in continuing to research such distressing issues. 

Clare is a Professor of Law at Durham University, with particular expertise in the legal regulation of pornography, sexual violence and online abuse, especially image-based sexual abuse (i.e. taking, creating, and sharing intimate images without consent). In 2020, she was appointed an Honorary KC (Kings Counsel) in recognition of her exceptional work within the legal profession.

• Clare’s website: https://www.claremcglynn.com
• Durham University profile: https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/clare-mcglynn/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-mcglynn-32b898238/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claremcglynn_/

Episode timeline

• Introduction
• How AI is deepening gender inequality (02:34-04:21)
• Emerging AI-driven forms of violence against women (04:21-06:08)
• The masculinist dynamics of the tech industry (06:08-08:52)
• Why attempts to regulate Big Tech have been so lacklustre (08:52-11:31)
• The new UK law Clare helped to introduce criminalising ‘deepfake’ images (11:31-16:44)
• Why the criminal law can be a useful tool for feminist campaigners (16:44-19:34)
• Why debates about ‘carceral feminism’ should not be reduced to either/or (19:34-24:23)
• Victim-survivors’ wide-ranging perceptions of justice (24:23-26:27)
• Break
• What is driving so many men to engage in image-based sexual abuse (26:35-29:56)
• Why the online world is not simply a reflection of wider society (29:56-31:35)
• The role of pornography and how it’s shifted over time, e.g. ‘incest porn’ (31:35-36:55)
• The personal impacts of doing this research (36:55-38:25)
• Is porn simply giving people what they want? (38:25-40:46)
• How porn influences our attitudes, behaviours, and relationships (40:46-44:11)
• The mainstreaming of strangulation in sex (44:11-48:04)
• Talking to young people (48:04-52:05)
• What sustains Clare to keep doing this work (52:05-54:24)
• Conclusion (55:15-01:02:27)

More info

• New ‘engaging men’ briefing paper co-authored by Stephen: https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/new-how-to-engage-men-in-ending-vawg/
• ‘The New Age of Sexism’ by Laura Bates: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/The-New-Age-of-Sexism/Laura-Bates/9781471190483
• End Violence Against Women Coalition: https://evaw.org.uk
• #NotYourPorn: https://notyourporn.com
• Sally Rees, NASUWT union: https://news.sky.com/story/upskirted-teacher-says-women-being-targeted-by-misogynistic-attitudes-in-classroom-13351789
• Clare’s research on ‘kaleidoscopic justice’:
• https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663918761200
• And restorative justice: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2012.00579.x
• ‘Breathless’ campaign: https://www.breathlesscampaign.com
• ‘No One Wants to See Your D*ck’, by Jess Davies: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/30/i-dont-date-at-all-now-one-womans-journey-into-the-darkest-corners-of-the-manosphere
• ‘The Crimes of Digital Capitalism’, by Aitor Jiménez: https://nyupress.org/9781479821693/the-crimes-of-digital-capitalism/