Overview
- In a private staff WhatsApp group, a senior employee shared on January 17th an AI‑made video that made a CDU colleague appear to dance in a bikini.
- The CDU group alerted prosecutors in Hanover on Tuesday and turned over chats and the clip, while the reported creator was suspended and then dismissed and another official was removed from duty.
- Prosecutors who viewed the short video said it is obviously an AI montage and, because the woman is clothed, it does not meet the current definition of a sexual offense.
- Any criminal case would rely on a complaint under Germany’s right‑of‑image law, which the alleged victim must file within three months of the January post for prosecutors to act.
- The incident has intensified calls for a new federal offense to punish creating and sharing sexualized deepfakes and for stricter platform takedowns, with the Justice Ministry preparing legislation.