European Parliament pledges action after 50 lawmakers targeted in deepfake porn

Investigation reveals AI-generated pornography targeting lawmakers

An investigation by the German platform Agora Digitale Transformation identified 50 members of the European Parliament on websites hosting non-consensual artificial intelligence pornography. Led by researcher Benjamin Shultz, the study examined 200 domains known to distribute deepfake material by searching the names of all European lawmakers. The findings revealed that at least 46 female lawmakers, representing one in every six women in the assembly, and four male lawmakers appeared across these platforms. The identified individuals belonged to seven of the eight political groups in the European Parliament. The researchers documented direct links, search terms connecting lawmaker names to nudification applications, and indexed content retrieved from websites previously taken down under court orders. In an accompanying report examining national legislatures across Europe, the platform documented 147 additional cases, including 138 female politicians.

Parliament leadership pledges institutional response

Opening the plenary session in Strasbourg on 5 October 2026, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola addressed the assembly regarding the manipulated media. Metsola stated that she had received information indicating roughly 60 members of the European Parliament were targeted by AI-generated pornography on websites publishing fabricated images. She declared that violence against women both online and offline is unacceptable and deplorable, pledging that the European Parliament will deploy all available resources to counter the practice. Metsola asserted that the operations represent a coordinated attempt to target and attack elected politicians who are fulfilling their official duties, adding that those behind the images will fail in their objectives.

Instead of humiliating us, it will make us stronger. Instead of silencing us, it will make us speak even louder. Instead of scaring us, it will make us even more determined.

Lawmaker testimonies and intimidation of female politicians

While the investigation did not list the names of targeted lawmakers, German Green MEP Lena Schilling spoke publicly about her experience during a press conference. Schilling described finding fabricated nude images of herself online and warned about the personal toll such attacks inflict on public figures. Research from human rights organisation HateAid cited in the report found that approximately 22% of female politicians consider leaving public office after experiencing digital violence. The study described sexualised deepfakes as a modern tool serving the long-standing problem of violence against women, rooted in the same misogynistic dynamics as offline harassment. Researchers noted that generative AI technologies have made creating fabricated content cheaper, faster, and significantly harder to detect.

Imagine arriving at work one day, opening your laptop and discovering that there are photographs of you, naked, online, photographs that you never took. That is what happened to me and to many other women. It is a horrible feeling.

European Union regulatory timelines and enforcement

Metsola reminded lawmakers that the European Union will ban artificial intelligence systems that generate sexual images starting on 2 December 2026. She cautioned that legislation has little value if authorities fail to enforce it, urging member states to prepare compliance measures immediately. The European Parliament president called on national governments to enforce the Digital Services Act and transpose the directive on combating violence against women, which criminalises the public dissemination of sexual deepfakes without consent. The Agora Digitale Transformation report observed that existing European legal frameworks remain insufficient, as enforcement currently operates only after material appears online and relies on victims discovering and reporting the content themselves.