Ada Colau urges major parties to ban abusive AI deepfakes in election campaign

Ada Colau, the Frente Amplio contender, addressed a formal request to Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Pedro Sánchez and Santiago Abascal, urging them to sign a binding commitment to refrain from using or endorsing AI-driven harassment of political opponents during the upcoming election. Her appeal follows the release of deep-fake videos by PP and Vox that manipulated the likeness and voice of Begoña Gómez, as well as several former ministers and activists, portraying them as confessing crimes.

Colau warned that normalising such digital impersonations would teach young people that identity theft is acceptable in politics and could humiliate women through sexualized deepfakes. She stressed that parties should compete on ideas, not on cruel digital tricks, and pledged her own campaign would respect the same rule. The letter also calls for future legal regulation of AI use in electoral contexts, describing one outlet practice as a dangerous precedent.