GARDAÍ ARE “NOT actively monitoring” the dark web, a Garda assistant commissioner said.

Appearing in front of the Artificial Intelligence Committee, Angela Willis was asked by Fianna Fáil’s Naoise Ó Cearúil if, given the prevalence of child sexual exploitation on the dark web, “An Garda Síochána are actively monitoring the dark web”.

She responded: “We’re not actively monitoring the dark web”.

The Kildare North TD asked if they investigate when evidence comes before the gardaí or they have “a reason to believe” there is illegal material on the dark web, she responded “yes”.

She also confirmed An Garda Síochána have the technical expertise to do so.

Asked why “there isn’t an extensive monitoring of the dark web and only when a complaint arises?” the Assistant Commissioner Organised and Serious Crime said: “I suppose it’s down to capacity. It’s as simple as that, and our capacity to monitor it.”

She said if gardaí could “deploy AI tools in that space” there would be “huge opportunities for us”, but that they had not “assessed any tools to date”.

Grok

At the same committee meeting, Willis confirmed gardaí have received 244 referrals about AI image abuse generated by AI tool Grok. Around half of those relate to child sexual abuse imagery.

Investigations into the generated images could lead to prosecutions of senior management of the tool, she suggested.

Asked by People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy if any of the investigations are into “Grok itself”, Willis said gardaí are “not ruling anything out”.

She added that evidence might first involve users of the technology but said they “will spare no effort in trying to identify all of the different opportunities to bring perpetrators before the courts”.

The Assistant Commissioner for Organised and Serious Crime did say these investigations “can be quite complicated and a quite lengthy process” because of their trans-national nature and the involvement of multiple other jurisdictions.

She said the gardaí will take them “as far as we can from an evidential perspective, and then we will obviously bring that information before the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)”.

Earlier she was asked by Fine Gael’s James Geoghegan if there is a distinction, in Irish law, between “the enabler of the production” and the producer.

She said “historically” investigations have focused on “whoever generated the material” but said their investigations “will go wherever the evidence leads us”, adding it would be up to the DPP to decide if a prosecution would follow.

Willis said: “But certainly in order to initiate an investigation, there is ample scope to investigate if somebody is aiding or abetting, the generation of such material when it relates to a child.”

Quizzed on the generation of sexual abuse images by AI image generating tools by the Dublin Bay South TD she agreed investigating the generation of non-consensual images of adults is more complicated.

Asked if An Garda Síochána, in their conversations with the Minister, are exploring proposals to strengthen laws in this area, including Coco’s Law she said “yes, and I’m aware that’s already under consideration”.

The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill, also known as Coco’s Law, was enacted in 2020.

It makes the distribution or publication of an intimate image without consent, with intent to cause harm to the victim a serious offence with perpetrators facing up to seven years’ imprisonment.

It also criminalises threats to distribute or publish such images.