AI Deepfakes Target Women in Politics, Undermining Democratic Participation

In modern democracies, the principle that all citizens can participate in free and fair political processes stands as a cornerstone of governance. Yet for women in politics, a disturbing trend has emerged as artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes increasingly threaten their participation and security in public life.

Deepfakes—hyper-realistic fake videos created using artificial intelligence—are disproportionately targeting female politicians with sexually explicit content designed to intimidate, damage reputations, and ultimately discourage women from seeking public office.

According to a recent report by Our Secure Future, this technology represents one facet of what researchers describe as “chilling democracy,” a tactical effort to push women out of political spaces through weaponized disinformation.

The evidence is mounting with high-profile cases emerging worldwide. In Pakistan, Information Minister Azma Bukhari became a victim when her face was superimposed onto an actor’s body in sexually explicit material. In the United Kingdom, Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, was among several female politicians targeted with fake pornography in 2024. Even former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton faced a deepfake video falsely showing her endorsing Republican Governor Ron DeSantis during his presidential bid.

“These attacks create not just a hostile digital environment but also increase real-world insecurity for women both online and offline,” said Sahana Dharmapuri, Vice President of Our Secure Future. “Studies consistently show that such gendered attacks discourage women from running for office or taking leadership positions in their communities.”

The Women, Peace and Security agenda, developed to increase female participation in high-level decision-making while ensuring protection from violence, now faces this technological challenge. Deepfakes specifically aim to prevent women from entering political spheres where they could influence significant economic and political decisions.

The problem extends beyond individual harm. As a Center for Strategic and International Studies report notes, deepfakes erode public trust by making it easier for politicians to dismiss authentic evidence of misconduct by claiming real recordings are fake. Despite efforts by social media companies to ban deepfakes, enforcement remains inconsistent, and regulations protecting people from such disinformation are limited.

Several approaches to combat this growing threat have emerged. Legal channels, regulation, digital literacy programs, and collaboration between civil society organizations, technology companies, and governments all play important roles. However, blockchain technology may offer a particularly promising solution that addresses the problem at its core.

Media outlets have already begun implementing blockchain solutions to verify information authenticity. Italian news agency ANSA and American media company Fox News are using blockchain to authenticate their reporting. Fox’s tool, called “Verify,” is being built on the Polygon blockchain platform.

Consulting group EY explains how ANSA implements this technology: “When an ANSA editor publishes a news story, it is automatically fed into the OpsChain system, with its ID and publication details contained in a block that is made immutable through ‘notarization’ on blockchain.” Stories published online receive an “ANSAcheck” icon that readers can click to verify authorship and track any republishing or revisions.

The technical process involves converting documents or images into a unique string of characters—a “hash”—that serves as a digital fingerprint. When notarized on blockchain, only this hash is recorded, preserving privacy while establishing authenticity.

This technology could potentially be adapted to combat deepfakes targeting women in politics. Political campaigns, social media platforms, and traditional media outlets could notarize authentic images of female candidates through blockchain. When deepfake videos appear, they could be immediately identified as inauthentic since they would lack documented notarization.

While blockchain isn’t a silver bullet, it represents a different verification approach than other emerging technologies. The Netherlands Forensic Institute has developed methods to detect deepfakes by analyzing subtle facial color differences, but AI algorithms often struggle with racial, ethnic, and sex-based image differences.

“Blockchain offers verification that doesn’t attempt to interpret the image but rather records its origin,” Dharmapuri noted. “It’s worth applying this emerging technology to protect what humans value most—democracy and freedom—while advancing the goals of Women, Peace and Security.”

As deepfakes continue to evolve, the intersection of technology, women’s participation, and security demands innovative solutions that protect democratic processes and ensure all voices can be heard in the political sphere.