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A BC anti-trans activist has been ordered to pay $7,500 for posting altered photos on social media that depicted a trans woman as a man.

According to a March 28 BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, the "avowed" anti-trans activist then posted confidential information, used offensive language and continued to intentionally misgender the victim after legal action had started.

The decision said a trans woman, referred to as AQ, alleged that an anti-trans activist, referred to as BT, had shared three intimate images of her.

AQ launched a case against BT at BC's Civil Resolution Tribunal under the recently formed Intimate Images Protection Act, which came into being in early 2024 and allowed victims whose intimate images had been shared online to seek financial compensation through the online small claims court.

The Tribunal found that BT had shared one image of AQ which had the "clear purpose of depicting AQ as a man" as the photo had been altered to show AQ’s head on a masculine body. 

The Tribunal said the image is "relatively benign" and there is nothing particularly explicit or graphic in it.

However, the Tribunal ruled the image was harmful.

"It dehumanizes AQ and denies her gender identity," the Tribunal ruled finding the image "hurtful, embarrassing, offensive and distressing."

"I find that it is an offence to her dignity. BT also disseminated it publicly within an online context around other anti-trans messaging," the Tribunal said.

The Tribunal said BT's actions were "malicious, cruel, and intentional" and deserving of punitive damages.

The decision gave no indication of how the two women know each other, or if they've ever met. BT doesn't live in BC.

The Tribunal said BT persistently broke code of conduct rules and intentionally refused to use AQ's indicated name and pronouns.

She also shared confidential information with third parties once the legal proceedings had started and ignored warnings from the Tribunal.

"BT’s behaviour worsened... she continued to intentionally misgender AQ, referring to her either with male pronouns or 'it,'" the decision read.

BT also posted on Facebook making disparaging remarks about the Tribunal and AQ using offensive language. 

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"She also continued to insult and demean AQ while implicitly referencing the Civil Resolution Tribunal’s process," the Tribunal said.

"In short, BT persistently ignored the Civil Resolution Tribunal's code of conduct by deliberately misgendering AQ and otherwise engaging in abusive and disrespectful conduct. I find this constitutes reprehensible conduct that is deserving of rebuke," the Tribunal ruled.

AQ argued for $5,000 in damages, which is the maximum amount, plus $25,000 for her time spent dealing with the case.

However, the Tribunal found AQ had used artificial intelligence to write most, if not all, of her arguments.

"These submissions bear the two hallmarks of artificially created submissions: they are very long and repetitive, and (more tellingly) they confidently cite irrelevant rules, incorrect sections of statutes, and court cases that are either about something completely different from what the submissions assert or do not exist at all," the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal listed multiple examples of how artificial intelligence had got it wrong. One case tries to make a point about the harm of digitally manipulated content but is actually about language rights, another quotes sections of the law that don't exist.

"The citation of plausible-looking but non-existent cases, in particular, is similar to other cases involving artificial intelligence-generated submissions," the Tribunal said.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ordered BT to pay $5,000 in damages plus $2,500 for time spent on the case, plus interest.

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