02.06.2025

Europe must act now

Maria Pawelec on sexualising deepfakes in EUobserver

Europe is currently not doing enough in the fight against sexualising deepfakes, argues Maria Pawelec together with Mateusz Łabuz from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg in a commentary in the European news portal EUobserver.

Given the growing threat posed by sexualising deepfakes (also known as ‘deepporn’ and ‘deepnudes’) and recent regulatory measures around the world (including the United States, where the bipartisan ‘Take It Down Act’ was just passed), the EU and its member states must step up their efforts to counter this silent epidemic that is striking at the foundations of our democracy.

Pawelec and Łabuz provide insights into the recently adopted EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence, which will criminalise sexualising deepfakes by 2027, but urge Member States to take action already to combat the sexualisation of deepfakes, which almost exclusively affect women.

Read the commentary here: https://euobserver.com/digital/ar5f48cc16