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PoliticsGlobal issues

Fact check: Female politicians hurt by sexualized deepfakes

Kathrin Wesolowski | Vania Ali 
May 26, 2026

Female politicians around the world are being targeted by AI-generated sexual content, denting their confidence and reputations.

https://p.dw.com/p/5EC9F

Female politicians are increasingly being targeted with sexualized AI-generated content — a trend that is discouraging women from political life.

In early May, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni went public with the problem after a sexualized fake image of her went viral.

Kamala Harris, Claudia Sheinbaum, Ursula von der Leyen and Azma Bukhari were among the many affected by sexualized deepfakes and sexualized AI images, DW research found.