A few years ago, faking a believable video required professional equipment. Today all it takes is an app and a handful of photos from social media. Deepfakes, images or videos manipulated with artificial intelligence, are used for pranks, for scams and, far too often, to create fake sexual content of real people. If it has happened to you, it is not your fault and there are ways to act.
What a deepfake is and why it does so much damage
A deepfake replaces or generates a person's face, body or voice so that it looks as if they did or said something that never happened. The most common types are:
- Fake sexual content: nude images or sexual videos created from ordinary photos.
- Humiliating or defamatory fakes: ridiculous situations, invented statements.
- Scams: videos or audio clips of a well-known person asking for money or recommending investments.
Being fake does not make it any less harmful. People who see it do not always know it is a fake, and the emotional and social impact is real.
First: look after yourself
If the fake is sexual or humiliating, it is normal to feel distress, shame or fear. Talk to someone you trust. If you are under 18, tell an adult. In Spain, the 017 helpline run by INCIBE, the national cybersecurity institute, offers free and confidential support, and you do not have to go through this alone.
Step 1: keep evidence
Before requesting removal, record:
- The exact URLs where the content appears.
- Screenshots showing the account that published it, the date and the comments.
- If it was sent to you through a messaging app, the full conversation and the sender's details.
If you are thinking of reporting it, consider having a digital forensic expert certify the content before it disappears. Once it has been removed, it can be very hard to prove it ever existed.
Step 2: ask the platform to remove it
The main social networks and websites ban non-consensual sexual content and fakes that impersonate someone else. Report each post under the most precise reason the platform offers: non-consensual intimate content, impersonation or manipulated media.
The EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065) requires platforms to have a mechanism for reporting illegal content and to give reasoned replies to those reports.
Step 3: use the Spanish AEPD priority channel
If the fake is sexual or violent, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has a priority channel for requesting its urgent removal. It is designed precisely for situations where the spread of content causes serious harm and needs to be stopped as quickly as possible. You can use it even if you do not know who published it.
Important
Do not share the content to ask for help, not even with friends. Every forward multiplies its reach. To request removal, the links are enough.
Step 4: ask Google to remove it from the results
Google lets you request the removal of non-consensual intimate images and fake sexual content that appears in its results. You can also ask it to stop showing results that link you to that content when your name is searched.
Step 5: consider reporting it to the police
Creating and spreading a deepfake can have criminal consequences in Spain. Depending on the content and the case, it may amount to an offence against moral integrity (Article 173 of the Spanish Criminal Code), to insult, or to the dissemination of intimate images without consent (Article 197.7), although how that last offence applies to artificially generated images depends on how the courts interpret it. If the victim is a minor, it is more serious.
In addition, the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) sets transparency obligations for anyone generating manipulated content that passes as real. The law is moving forward, but the practical path is still the same: evidence, removal and a police report.
File the report with the Policía Nacional, the Guardia Civil or the regional police, with all the evidence you have. If you know who did it, say so.
If you are a company or a public figure
Deepfakes of executives and well-known people are used for scams and to damage brands. In these cases, as well as requesting removal, it is wise to publish a clear denial through your official channels and to watch for new versions.
We can help
If someone has made a fake with your face, we act discreetly: we secure the evidence, handle removal from platforms and search engines and, when the case requires it, we work with a law firm. The final decision rests with each platform; we analyse your case for free. More information on our intimate images and sextortion service.
