Almost 150 politicians across Europe have been included on harmful deepfake pornography websites over the last few years, according to new research seen by WIRED. Some of these politicians, overwhelmingly women, have had their likeness included in explicit videos, while others have names and photos listed in disturbing database-like entries that can link to deepfake creation tools. Analysis of around 160 domains hosting deepfake abuse and other nonconsensual sexual content, conducted by researcher **Benjamin Shultz**, found that at least 138 women members of parliament (**MPs**) from 22 **European Union** countries have appeared or been mentioned on these sites. In stark contrast, only nine male **MPs** were referenced in any way. By **Shultz’s** calculations, women **MPs** are 33 times more likely to be targeted by deepfake ecosystems. “Deepfake porn is part of a much bigger trend of online hate and intimidation against women and female politicians,” says **Suzanne Kröger**, a Dutch **MP** with the **Progressive Netherlands** group, who was impacted. **Kröger**, expressing anger at the research findings, described them as “really deeply disturbing” and crucial for revealing the scale of abuse. “We are politicians, we have a platform and speak out,” **Kröger** says. “But meanwhile, there are millions of women victims of these criminal acts.” The research, published by German digital democracy think tank **Agora Digitale Transformation**, focuses on national members of parliament from all 27 **EU** countries. **Shultz**, a fellow at **Agora** and lead researcher at the **American Sunlight Project**, compiled details of over 5,800 members of parliaments across Europe in July and used custom search engines to find where they appeared across the deepfake websites. (The research does not include members of the **European Parliament**). Politicians from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France appeared on the websites the most, according to the findings. The more senior a politician is, the more likely they were to be targeted. **Shultz** alerted all affected **MPs** individually and provided guidance on content removal. The websites also include depictions of celebrities, journalists, and other public figures, he noted. WIRED is not naming the websites to avoid drawing further attention to the abusive images. Multiple researchers and lawmakers agree that while politicians have been targeted with deepfakes for years, such attacks can damage democratic practices and create chilling effects that may deter women and girls from pursuing public office. “This discourages women from taking office in the first place and also crowds these women out of public life,” **Shultz** says. “There’s so much evidence to support that this does real psychological damage. This also does reputational damage for the future if they want to fade out of politics and have another career.” “Deepfake videos are used to intimidate politicians but also to belittle women,” says **Sarah Dobbe**, a Dutch **Socialist Party MP** who was impacted. “It is very important that if a woman or girl is victimized in this way, she can get direct support if needed, and that the content is removed quickly.” Across the sites he monitored, **Shultz** categorized multiple forms of abusive content or behavior. His results include instances where **MPs** appeared in actively hosted content, indexed results where content had been removed, and a number of profiles and “gateways” where potentially new content could be created. Multiple websites hosted pages featuring **MPs'** names, official photos, and in some cases, their social media profiles or personal information. Some included sections “rating” the women’s bodies, **Shultz’s** report states. Often, next to these **MP** biographies were links to so-called “nudifier” apps or the websites’ own tools that claimed to digitally undress people. “It has all the images, all the information, and a direct link to the tool, and in three clicks you can generate,” **Shultz** says. “That’s just as bad as actually hosting the content.” Since **AI**-created deepfakes first emerged at the end of 2017, the underlying technology to produce them has become much more accessible, and the output of the tools has become more realistic. Over time, millions of nonconsensual **AI** images and videos have been created, mostly by men and boys, and are often used to harass, intimidate, or blackmail women and girls, including at almost 100 schools around the world. “These platforms are designed to run like businesses,” says **Henry Ajder**, an **AI** adviser and deepfake expert who has been tracking the ecosystem since 2018. He notes that while it is not surprising that politicians are being targeted in this way, the findings are crucial for officials in Europe to understand the severity of the issue. “The whole infrastructure is set up to do this at scale with ease,” he says.