Austrian MEP Lena Schilling, a member of the Green Party, recently discovered that manipulated deepfake images of her naked were circulating online. This revelation came last month when she accessed links that led to altered footage from one of her early press conferences, where her clothing had been digitally removed. In response, she urged the European Union to take action, following a report indicating that one in six female MEPs has been subjected to sexualized deepfake content generated by artificial intelligence.
“I felt sick. I remember how emotional I was and how much I prepared for the press conference. To see someone using that image to harm and humiliate me was very hard to comprehend,” Schilling stated, according to The Guardian.
Schilling is among 50 MEPs, including 46 women, targeted by sexualized deepfake content, as reported by Agora Digital Transformation (ADT). The Berlin-based research institute, which alerted Schilling about the images, stated that deepfake pornography has become a “systemic threat to women in European politics.”
A previous ADT report found that 138 female parliamentarians from 22 EU countries have been affected by these practices, revealing that women are 33 times more likely than their male counterparts to appear in pornographic deepfakes or be linked to such material.
Schilling characterized these images as a form of “digital violence against women,” exacerbating the disproportionate volume of sexist insults, harassment, and violence faced by women in politics. “Such occurrences make entering politics even more challenging than it already is. Imagine the impact on our society if more women were to disappear from public life,” she added.
Schilling mentioned that she has spoken with some of the other targeted female MEPs, but many expressed fears about sharing their experiences publicly. “But they have nothing to be ashamed of. Someone has abused your photographs; you haven’t done anything wrong,” she reassured them.
This message was included in a recent letter addressed to the European Union, initiated by Schilling and German Green MEP Terry Reintke. Signed by 119 MEPs, the letter calls on European officials to ensure that the ban set to take effect on December 2, targeting applications and websites using AI to virtually undress women, is accompanied by effective law enforcement mechanisms.
