Deepfake Porn Sites Target 138 Women MPs in EU

Deepfake porn sites have become a hunting ground for women in European politics, and the numbers are stark. At least 138 women members of parliament from 22 European Union countries have appeared or been mentioned across a sprawling network of abusive websites, according to research conducted by Benjamin Shultz, a fellow at the German digital democracy think tank Agora Digitale Transformation and lead researcher at the American Sunlight Project.

Across the same set of domains, only nine male MPs were referenced in any way. That's a ratio of roughly 33 to one. The targeting isn't random. It's systemic, and it's overwhelmingly aimed at women, because when you count who gets named across these domains and find that men appear nine times while women appear roughly 297 times, you're not looking at chance, you're looking at a pattern that repeats. And it's aimed at women.

A Database Built for Abuse

Shultz analyzed around 160 domains. They host deepfake abuse and other nonconsensual sexual content. He compiled the details of more than 5,800 members of parliament across all 27 EU countries in July, and then, because he wanted to know exactly where those names and faces would surface online, he used custom search engines to track them. The research doesn't include members of the European Parliament. But it covers national lawmakers from every member state.

What he found goes well beyond simple image hosting. Many of the sites function like disturbing directories. They list MPs by name, display official photos, and in some cases include social media profiles or personal information. Some pages even feature sections that "rate" the women's bodies. Next to these biography-style entries, the sites offer links to nudifier apps or their own tools that claim to digitally undress people.

"It has all the images, all the information, and a direct link to the tool, and in three clicks you can generate," Shultz says. "That's just as bad as actually hosting the content."

That distinction matters. A website that merely indexes deepfake material can be taken down, but a website that provides a creation pipeline is something else entirely. It is an engine, not an archive. And it is designed to be used.

Who Gets Hit Hardest

Politicians from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France appeared on the websites more often than their counterparts from other EU countries.

Seniority made a difference too. The more prominent a politician's role, the more likely her likeness was to be exploited across deepfake porn sites.

Suzanne Kröger was among those affected. She's a Dutch member of parliament with the Progressive Netherlands group. And she didn't mince words. When it came to describing her reaction to the findings, she held nothing back, making clear exactly where she stood.

"Deepfake porn is part of a much bigger trend of online hate and intimidation against women and female politicians," Kröger says. "It's really deeply disturbing."

She also placed the issue in a wider frame. Politicians have platforms, she noted. They can speak out. Millions of other women cannot.

"We are politicians, we have a platform and speak out," Kröger says. "But meanwhile, there are millions of women victims of these criminal acts."

Sarah Dobbe, a Dutch Socialist Party MP who was also impacted, emphasized the need for rapid response and support for victims.

"Deepfake videos are used to intimidate politicians but also to belittle women," Dobbe says. "It is very important that if a woman or girl is victimized in this way, she can get direct support if needed, and that the content is removed quickly."

The Chilling Effect on Democracy

The harm doesn't stop there. It reaches further. Shultz pointed to a broader consequence, one that stretches beyond the women currently holding office and into the pipeline of future leaders, because if deepfake porn sites make public life unbearable for women, fewer women will enter it. And that's the real cost.

"This discourages women from taking office in the first place and also crowds these women out of public life," Shultz says. "There's so much evidence to support that this does real psychological damage. This also does reputational damage for the future if they want to fade out of politics and have another career."

That reputational damage is a long tail. A deepfake created today can resurface years from now, when a politician has left office and moved into the private sector. The images do not expire. They wait.

Henry Ajder, an AI adviser and deepfake expert who has been tracking the ecosystem since 2018, says the infrastructure behind these operations is built for scale.

"These platforms are designed to run like businesses," Ajder says. "The whole infrastructure is set up to do this at scale with ease."

He added that while it is not surprising politicians are being targeted this way, the findings help officials in Europe grasp how severe the problem has become.

What Is Being Done, and What Is Not

Lawmakers have been slow to act. Since AI-created deepfakes first emerged at the end of 2017, the technology to produce them has become far more accessible, and the results far more realistic. Over time, millions of nonconsensual AI images and videos have been created, mostly by men and boys, and are often used to harass, intimidate, or blackmail women and girls. Schools have not been spared. Almost 100 schools around the world have reported incidents.

Some legislative movement has started to appear. Both the UK and the EU are planning bans on nudify services. But here's the thing. In the United States, the Take It Down Act has coincided with at least two major deepfake websites being taken offline, sites that had published thousands of images and videos of celebrities, and journalism that unmasked the people behind those websites has also led to major platforms being removed from the web. They're gone.

Shultz's own previous research on US senators and members of Congress produced a measurable result after sites hosting their deepfakes were taken down. The number of depictions of those American politicians dropped significantly over the following two years. That suggests removal works. It also suggests that pressure, legal or journalistic, can shrink the footprint of deepfake porn sites.

In the weeks before this story, at least half a dozen of the domains identified in the research were removed from the web. The total number of depictions of European MPs fell as a result. But the ecosystem adapts. New domains appear. Tools get easier to use. The three-click pipeline remains intact elsewhere.

The Road Ahead

Shultz alerted all of the MPs individually. He gave them guidance on how the content might be removed. He's also researching the number of depictions of UK and US politicians, and while that work continues, the exposure doesn't wait for it, because it can't, and they're already visible. The work continues. But the exposure doesn't wait.

For Kröger, the priority is twofold. Removal of the images matters. So does regulation of the technology that makes them possible.

"It's a priority to ensure that these images are taken down, but that also there's strong regulation on this type of technology," Kröger says.

The websites also host depictions of celebrities, journalists, and other public figures, Shultz says. The targeting is not confined to politics. But politicians face a particular kind of exposure: their names, faces, and professional identities are public by design. Deepfake porn sites exploit that openness. And for the 138 women MPs identified in this research, the exploitation is already a matter of record.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many women MPs were identified across deepfake porn sites, and how does that compare to male MPs?

At least 138 women members of parliament from 22 European Union countries appeared or were mentioned across the network of abusive websites. Across the same set of domains, only nine male MPs were referenced in any way, a ratio of roughly 33 to one.

How did the researcher track the exposure of EU parliamentarians across these domains?

Shultz analyzed around 160 domains that host deepfake abuse and other nonconsensual sexual content. He compiled the details of more than 5,800 members of parliament across all 27 EU countries in July and then used custom search engines to track where those names and faces would surface online.

What makes the most harmful sites different from simple image hosts?

Many sites function like disturbing directories, listing MPs by name, displaying official photos, and sometimes including social media profiles or personal information. Next to these entries, the sites offer links to nudifier apps or their own tools that claim to digitally undress people, so in three clicks a user can generate content.

Which politicians were most frequently targeted, and what role did seniority play?

Politicians from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France appeared on the websites more often than their counterparts from other EU countries. Seniority made a difference too, as the more prominent a politician's role, the more likely her likeness was to be exploited.

What evidence suggests that removing deepfake content can reduce the problem?

Shultz's previous research on US senators and members of Congress produced a measurable result after sites hosting their deepfakes were taken down, with the number of depictions dropping significantly over the following two years. In the weeks before this story, at least half a dozen of the domains identified in the research were removed from the web, and the total number of depictions of European MPs fell as a result.