Man from Overbetuwe accused of creating sexual deepfakes; 130 victims reported
Police arrested a 43-year-old man from the municipality of Overbetuwe on Wednesday for allegedly creating sexually explicit deepfakes. The man is accused of making fake sexual videos and sharing them in WhatsApp groups. A total of 130 victims have reported to police, with the suspect also accused of sending photos of his genitals and sexually explicit messages to women without their consent.
The women stated that they have been bothered by the man regularly and repeatedly. The suspect is currently being questioned by investigators. His data carriers, which often include phones, laptops, and hard drives, have been seized by police.
Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person’s likeness, often their face or voice, is digitally altered or replaced using artificial intelligence. They can be used to create realistic but entirely fabricated images, videos, or audio of someone doing or saying things they never actually did. They are increasingly used for non-consensual pornography, fraud, or political disinformation.
In the Netherlands, distributing sexually explicit images of someone without their consent can be prosecuted under the Computer Crime Act III and may also violate privacy laws, including the Personal Data Protection Act. Such actions can also fall under stalking and may lead to prosecution for digital harassment.
Police emphasized that they wish for any victims of stalking or deepfakes to come forward, adding that there is no reason to feel any shame regarding this.
A 73-year-old man from Noord-Holland was arrested on August 13 for making deepfake porn videos depicting Dutch celebrities, parliamentarians, and mayors in sexual acts. At least 20 victims had reported the video's to the police in that case.
