Collien Fernandes criticizes gaps in protection when it comes to digital sexual violence

The actress and presenter Collien Fernandes complained in the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament about serious gaps in protection and criminal liability against sexual violence online. There are reporting mechanisms on the major platforms. “In my experience, they don’t work,” said Fernandes as an expert in a hearing in the Culture and Media Committee to combat digital violence and so-called deepfakes.

She also reported “very clear deepfakes” to platforms, said Fernandes. Within a few seconds we got back: “We couldn’t determine that this was a deepfake.” To her knowledge, there is only one case in which a conviction was reached for digital sexual violence, said Fernandes.

Many cases are being discontinued

Fernandes said she spoke to various victim advocates and they said that all of their cases had been dropped because they were trivial. “And I think that simply has something to do with the fact that many people are not even aware of what this means for those affected.”

Fernandes has been making public accusations against her ex-husband Christian Ulmen for some time, which were first reported by “Spiegel”. In addition to physical assault, she accuses him of creating fake profiles in her name and using them to distribute pornographic images. This is not about deepfakes. Her allegations sparked a broad debate about sexual violence on the Internet and demonstrations in several German cities. The presumption of innocence applies to elms.

Law is in preparation

The federal government has now responded to the current situation. Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) is preparing a law that would criminalize the creation and distribution of sexualized deepfakes.

The English word “deepfake” stands for manipulated image or sound files that people have created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Photos, videos or sounds should appear authentic, but show people in situations that they have never actually found themselves in. According to the investigative authorities, these mostly involve sexualized depictions of women.