The German deepfake scandal putting ‘virtual rape’ in the spotlight

One of Germany’s most famous actors has claimed her TV presenter ex-husband spread deepfake pornographic images of her online – and triggered demonstrations demanding the government tighten up the laws on digital violence against women.

The case has gripped Germany, said the BBC and “exposed anger about what campaigners say are glaring gaps in criminal law”.

Secret online accounts

In bombshell allegations published under the headline: “You virtually raped me”, Collien Fernandes alleged in Der Spiegel last week that her former husband, Christian Ulmen, had secretly opened online accounts in her name and used them to share sexually explicit deepfake pornographic images of her with 30 other men. She also claimed he used computer-generated audio to impersonate her voice for phone-sex encounters with some of the men. Ulmen denies the allegations and has not been charged.

Fernandes had known about the fake images for many years, and in 2024, she’d talked about them, and the effect they’d had on her, in a documentary about deepfake abuse. That Christmas, after she’d reported the abuse to the police, she said Ulmen confessed to her that he was her abuser.

Ulmen has never “produced and/or distributed deepfake videos of Ms Fernandes or any other individuals. Any such claims are false,” his lawyers told the BBC. They also said Ulmen will be taking legal action against Der Spiegel for publishing “fake facts” and “inadmissible coverage based on suspicions”.

Call for tighter restrictions

Fernandes’ claims have shocked Germany, in a similar way that Gisèle Pelicot’s trial rocked France, said The New York Times. Crowds at rallies and demonstrations in several cities called for tighter legal restrictions on the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography. They said politicians had not done enough to prevent such digital abuse.

The scandal “is also putting political pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has long been accused of being out of touch when it comes to younger, female voters”, said the BBC.

Justice minister Stefanie Hubig has now announced plans to incorporate into German law an EU directive on banning non-consensual deepfake pornography, and to make both the production and distribution of it a specific criminal offence, punishable by up to two years in prison.