Nearly 150 European Politicians Targeted With Sexually Explicit Deepfakes

Researchers have uncovered a troubling pattern of deepfake abuse targeting European lawmakers. Analysis of roughly 160 websites hosting nonconsensual sexual content reveals that at least 138 women members of parliament from 22 EU countries have been depicted in explicit videos or listed on database-style entries linking to deepfake-creation tools—compared with just nine male MPs across all 27 EU nations studied.

The Scale and Gender Disparity#

Benjamin Shultz, a fellow at the German think tank Agora Digitale Transformation, compiled data on over 5,800 national parliamentarians and tracked their appearance across deepfake ecosystems. His findings paint a stark picture: women MPs are roughly 33 times more likely to be targeted than their male counterparts.

Politicians from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France experienced the highest rates of abuse, with senior and more prominent figures facing greater risk. The victimized lawmakers represent the full spectrum of European politics, yet the targeting remains overwhelmingly gendered.

How the Abuse Works#

The abuse takes multiple forms across these sites. Some pages featured MPs' official photos and names alongside sections "rating" their bodies. Many sites offered direct links to "nudifier" applications—tools claiming to digitally undress people—positioned next to victim profiles. As Shultz describes it, having all the necessary information and creation tools just "three clicks" away amounts to facilitating deepfake production at scale, even if the explicit content itself isn't actively hosted on the platform.

Beyond hosting finished content, researchers identified profiles and "gateways" designed to enable future abuse generation, transforming these sites into functional infrastructure for producing nonconsensual imagery.

Democratic Harm and Intimidation#

Multiple researchers and lawmakers warn that deepfake abuse extends far beyond individual harm. "Deepfake porn is part of a much bigger trend of online hate and intimidation against women and female politicians," says Suzanne Kröger, a Dutch MP who appeared on the sites. She emphasized that while politicians have platforms to speak out, "there are millions of women victims of these criminal acts."

The broader damage runs deep: experts argue that widespread deepfake targeting discourages women and girls from pursuing public life altogether. Visible harassment and reputational threats create a chilling effect, potentially driving women away from political careers before they begin, and pushing sitting politicians out of the public sphere prematurely.