Collien Fernandes stood on a stage in Hamburg last Thursday in a bulletproof vest, under police protection, and told thousands of protesters what it feels like to be erased by your own face. “I’m standing here with a bulletproof vest under police protection… because men want to kill me,” she said, according to the BBC.

Fernandes, a 44-year-old German TV presenter, has accused her ex-husband, Christian Ulmen, of creating and distributing pornographic deepfakes of her online — allegations he categorically denies. His lawyers told the BBC he has never “produced and/or distributed deepfake videos of Ms Fernandes or any other individuals.”

The dispute is now a criminal matter. But the case has already done something larger: exposed how European legal systems are failing to keep pace with tools that can turn any photograph into nonconsensual pornography in seconds.

More than 90% of AI deepfake videos online depict pornographic content, according to multiple reports cited by Euractiv. Nearly all are created without the subject’s consent, and the vast majority of victims are women. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, currently has no explicit law against creating such material — only distributing it is potentially punishable, and only if it breaches someone’s right to their own image.

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig says a bill to criminalize both the creation and distribution of pornographic deepfakes is “nearly ready,” with penalties of up to two years in prison, according to leaked draft plans. The EU adopted a directive in 2024 that already covers this. But member states have until 2027 to transpose it into national law, and Germany hasn’t.

Fernandes filed her complaint in Spain, where digital violence is explicitly criminalized under gender-based violence laws. She called Germany “an absolute haven for perpetrators” in an interview with German broadcaster ARD.

Thousands have rallied behind her — more than 10,000 at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate alone on Sunday, holding signs reading “AI won’t make our bodies yours,” according to Reuters.

The technology moves in seconds. The law moves in years. That gap is where the damage lives.

Sources