Key facts
- One in six female MEPs have been targeted by sexualised AI-generated content.
- Nude deepfakes of Austrian MEP Lena Schilling were found circulating online.
- A letter signed by 119 MEPs calls for enforcement of a ban on AI apps used to undress women.
- The ban is scheduled to take effect across the EU on December 2.
Austrian MEP Lena Schilling has spoken out after discovering nude deepfakes of herself online, describing the experience as "disgusting" and "digital violence against women." A report by Agora Digitale Transformation (ADT) found that one in six female MEPs, totaling 46 women out of 50 targeted individuals, have been subjected to such AI-generated content. Schilling learned about the altered images of herself last month, which were based on photos from an early press conference. She stated that the misuse of these images was aimed at harming and humiliating her. The ADT report highlighted that women are 33 times more likely than their male counterparts to be depicted in deepfake pornography, posing a "systemic threat to women in European politics" and a danger to democracy by discouraging women from public life. Schilling, along with German Green MEP Terry Reintke, initiated a letter signed by 119 MEPs urging the EU to ensure robust enforcement mechanisms for a forthcoming ban on AI apps that undress women, scheduled to take effect on December 2.