One in six female MEPs targeted by non-consensual sexual imagery

New research by Berlin-based think tank Agora Digitale Transformation (ADT) has revealed that one in six female MEPs are depicted in or linked to AI-generated non-consensual sexual images.

The findings indicate that 50 MEPs, 46 of whom are women, have been depicted in deepfake pornography, demonstrating what ADT characterised as a systemic threat to women in European politics. The investigation builds on earlier ADT research, which identified 138 female parliamentarians across 22 EU member states affected by similar material, calculating that female politicians are 33 times more likely than male peers to be depicted in or associated with synthetic pornography.

The research prompted Austrian Green MEP Lena Schilling, whose press conference photographs were manipulated without consent, to highlight the practice as digital violence that risks deterring women from public office. Alongside German Green MEP Terry Reintke, Schilling co-ordinated a letter signed by 119 MEPs urging EU authorities to introduce robust enforcement mechanisms alongside an impending ban on AI tools designed to undress individuals, which is scheduled to take effect across the bloc on 2 December. Signatories warned that legislative prohibitions remain ineffective without active technical and regulatory enforcement against automated nudification platforms.

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