Parents’ shock as AI-generated images of naked young girls from Spanish town circulate on social media
- Over 20 girls aged 11 to 17 from Almendralejo in southern Spain came forward
Parents were shocked when they discovered that AI-generated images of naked young girls from their small Spanish town were circulating on social media.
More than 20 girls aged 11 to 17 from the sleepy town of Almendralejo, Badajoz, in southern Spain have come forward as victims of the fake pictures.
The pictures were created by feeding an AI-application fully clothed pictures of the girls, many of which the victims uploaded to their own social media pages.
The application used to originals to generate ‘imagined’ images of the girls without any clothes on.
Maria Blanco Rayo told the BBC a fake nude picture using her daughter’s face circulated online. Her daughter said this happens ‘a lot right now’ as others in her class were targeted too.
More than 20 girls aged 11 to 17 from the sleepy town of Almendralejo (pictured), Badajoz, in southern Spain have come forward as victims of the fake pictures
Maria Blanco Rayo (pictured) told the BBC a fake nude picture using her daughter’s face circulated online. Her daughter said this happens ‘a lot right now’ as others in her class were targeted too
The town with just 30,000 residents has been in the national spotlight over the AI-pictures after one of the girls’ mothers, Miriam Al Adib (pictured), used her prominent social media profile to shine light on the issue
Police are now investigating and have already identified 11 local boys in connection with the AI-fakes, according to local media reports.
The boys are thought to have been involved either in the creation of the pictures or circulating them via Whatsapp or Telegram.
Police are also looking into the claim that some were trying to extort money from a girl using an AI-generated image.
Ms Blanco Rayo’s daughter is holding up well, but she said other girls ‘won’t even leave their house’.
The town with just 30,000 residents has been in the national spotlight over the AI-pictures after one of the girls’ mothers, Miriam Al Adib, used her prominent social media profile to shine light on the issue.
Police are now investigating and have already identified 11 local boys in connection with the AI-fakes, according to local media reports. The boys are thought to have been involved either in the creation of the pictures or circulating them via Whatsapp or Telegram
She said in a video posted on social media: ‘We didn’t know how many children had the images, if they had been uploaded to pornographic sites – we had all those fears.
‘When you are the victim of a crime, if you are robbed, for example, you file a complaint and you don’t hide because the other person has caused you harm.
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‘But with crimes of a sexual nature the victim often feels shame and hides and feels responsible. So I wanted to give that message: it’s not your fault.’
The suspects identified by police are aged between 12 and 14.
While Spanish law doesn’t cover the generation of naked or pornographic images, in this case they concern minors and therefore could be considered as child pornography.
Another possible charge could be the breach of their privacy.
However, minors can only face criminal charges once they are 14 in Spain – meaning some of the suspects couldn’t even be charged, which caused a lot of concern for locals.
Gema Lorenzo, who has a son, 16, and a daughter, 14, said those residents in Almendralejo with kids ‘are very worried’.
She told the BBC: ‘You’re worried about two things: if you have a son you worry he might have done something like this; and if you have a daughter, you’re even more worried, because it’s an act of violence.
Gema Lorenzo (pictured), who has a son, 16, and a daughter, 14, said those residents in Almendralejo with kids ‘are very worried’
Some blame the parents, like local painter and decorator Francisco Javier Guerra, who said parents should take their children’s phones away or install parenting apps on their devices to keep an eye on their online activity.
This comes after topless images of singer Rosalia were created using AI earlier this year and circulated on social media.
Ms Al Adib said that women from all over the world wrote to her, saying that something similar had happened to them and asking for advice.
She said: ‘Right now this is happening across the world. The only difference is that in Almendralejo we have made a fuss about it.’
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