Germany is moving toward criminalising pornographic deepfakes after a high-profile case involving television presenter Collien Fernandes ignited a national debate over digital sexual abuse and the limits of existing law.
Fernandes, 44, has filed a legal complaint in Spain accusing her former husband, actor Christian Ulmen, of distributing manipulated pornographic images of her online. Ulmen denies wrongdoing. His lawyer said media coverage of the allegations was unlawful, arguing that reports relied on unverified claims and presented a one-sided account. Ulmen has not been charged and is presumed innocent.
The dispute, first detailed by German magazine Der Spiegel, quickly expanded beyond a celebrity divorce into a broader reckoning with what activists now describe as “digital sexualised violence.”
In an Instagram statement and later an interview with public broadcaster ARD, Fernandes said fake social media accounts featuring pornographic deepfakes of her had circulated for nearly a decade. Her decision to pursue legal action in Spain, she said, reflected stronger protections for victims there. Germany, she argued, had become “a haven for perpetrators.”
The case struck a nerve. More than 250 prominent German women from politics, culture and business issued a joint appeal demanding stronger safeguards against online abuse. Among their proposals: embedding a strict “yes means yes” consent principle into German law and formally recognising femicide within the criminal code.
Recent figures from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office underscore the scale of the problem. One in five women and one in seven men reported experiencing digital violence within the past five years, with teenagers disproportionately affected. Despite the prevalence, only a fraction of incidents—around 2.4%—are reported to police, suggesting a vast gap between harm and accountability.
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has now confirmed plans for draft legislation aimed at closing that gap. The proposal would make both the production and distribution of pornographic deepfakes a criminal offence, while simplifying legal procedures for victims seeking removal of harmful content and faster judicial remedies.
Hubig framed the issue as societal rather than gender-specific. Deepfakes, she said, threaten public trust, personal dignity and democratic norms alike. Men, she added, must also take part in confronting the problem.
Public anger has spilled into the streets. Thousands gathered in Berlin over the weekend to protest sexualised digital violence and express solidarity with victims. Fernandes did not attend, but supporters read a statement from her at the Brandenburg Gate calling for the “walls of silence” surrounding online abuse to be dismantled.
Advocacy groups warn that technology is outpacing regulation. Josephine Ballon, managing director of German nonprofit Hate Aid, said AI image generators and so-called “nudification” apps are now widely accessible, often free and easy to use.
Criminalisation, she argued, would establish a necessary baseline: if the behaviour becomes illegal, the platforms enabling it can also be challenged.
For Germany, the Fernandes case has become something larger than a personal dispute. It marks a turning point in how Europe’s biggest economy confronts the darker edge of artificial intelligence — where technology collides with consent, reputation and the increasingly fragile boundary between reality and fabrication.
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Last modified: March 27, 2026
