Belgium's royal palace is seeking takedowns of AI-generated nude images falsely depicting Queen Mathilde and Crown Princess Elisabeth, Le Soir reported, as similar fabrications involving other women in public life circulate.
An investigation by De Standaard, described by Le Soir, also identified fabricated images depicting Flemish Vice-Minister-President Melissa Depraetere and former Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder. Depraetere condemned the images and warned that such fabrications can destroy lives. Dedonder said she planned to file a complaint.
Belgium's Institute for the Equality of Women and Men says digitally undressing someone is punishable as voyeurism. Distributing the resulting images without consent is a separate offense, according to the institute. Its guidance says ordinary photos and videos posted online can be used to create such images.
The palace had dealt with a different set of manipulated images of the princess earlier this year. In March, VRT reported that the palace had flagged AI-altered photos and videos of Elisabeth circulating on Facebook.
