Deepfakes, AI, and the New War Against Women in Politics
08 JAN 2025
A global surge in AI-generated deepfakes is targeting women politicians, undermining their credibility, careers, and participation in public life.
Across the globe, women politicians are increasingly becoming victims of AI-generated deepfake pornography and sexualized images, a disturbing trend that threatens their careers, dignity, and even democracy itself. From the United States to Pakistan, Italy, and Britain, female leaders find themselves targeted by advanced technology that weaponizes their identities to undermine their credibility and erode public trust.
In the United States, the American Sunlight Project , a disinformation research group, recently identified over 35,000 instances of deepfake content featuring 26 members of Congress, 25 of them women, circulating across pornographic websites. This equates to nearly one in six women in Congress becoming victims of this insidious technology. Such attacks, described as a direct assault on democracy, reveal how AI tools are being used to threaten women in leadership, potentially deterring their political participation.
The problem is not limited to the U.S. In Britain, an investigation uncovered more than 30 female politicians targeted by a deepfake porn website, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. Similarly, in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken legal action against individuals who created deepfake videos of her, labeling the attacks a form of violence that could extend to the next generation if left unchecked. In Pakistan, the deeply conservative society amplifies the consequences of these violations. Lawmakers like Azma Bukhari and Meena Majeed have been falsely depicted in compromising deepfake videos, leaving them shattered and vulnerable to public shaming.
The rise of deepfakes has been fueled by the easy availability of AI tools capable of creating explicit content. These technologies have enabled a disturbing "cottage industry" that turns photos into non-consensual explicit imagery with alarming efficiency. This accessibility poses a significant threat not only to high-profile figures but also to ordinary women, who lack the resources to combat such violations.
Despite the growing prevalence of deepfakes, legal frameworks to address the issue remain insufficient. While countries like the U.K. and states in the U.S. have begun criminalizing the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfakes, the pace of regulation lags far behind the technology’s advancement. In places like Pakistan, there are no laws at all to protect women from such attacks, leaving them with limited recourse.
Experts warn that the unchecked rise of AI-driven harassment could have a silencing effect on women’s ambitions, discouraging them from entering public life and further entrenching gender inequality. Advocacy groups are calling for urgent action to create strong international laws and support systems to combat this form of gender-based violence.
The proliferation of deepfake pornography targeting women in politics is a stark reminder of the darker implications of artificial intelligence. Beyond individual harm, these attacks threaten to destabilize democratic institutions by eroding public confidence in leaders. As technology continues to evolve, the world must act decisively to protect the dignity and safety of women and uphold the principles of equality and democracy.
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