Spanish Opposition Deploys Deepfake of Prime Minister's Wife in Viral Campaign Ad

The conservative People's Party released a political advertisement this week that utilized artificial intelligence to recreate the voices and faces of several figures associated with the ruling Socialist party. The clip, distributed across the party's official social media channels, features manipulated likenesses of individuals linked to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The video presents these figures in scenarios where they appear to confess to various actions, including soliciting prostitutes and accepting kickbacks. This release has triggered significant public outrage and ignited a broader national conversation about the role of AI in modern political campaigning as Spain approaches its general elections next month.

One prominent segment of the video features an AI-generated version of Begoña Gómez, the wife of the prime minister. In this clip, she discusses obtaining a university position due to her husband's political standing. The advertisement also includes a deepfake of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is shown speaking about hiding jewellery in a safe. Both scenarios reference investigations currently underway, and both Gómez and Zapatero have publicly denied any wrongdoing related to the specific claims made in the video.

The video gained rapid traction, accumulating nearly 2 million views by Friday. The Socialist party responded swiftly to the release. Digital transformation minister Óscar López addressed the issue on broadcaster TVE, stating that the party was telling people a colossal lie. He expressed that it seemed intolerable for a political party to do this on its official accounts. López highlighted that while an AI label was present, it appeared in tiny, nearly transparent text at the bottom of the screen. He warned that viewers unfamiliar with AI technology could easily mistake the synthetic content for reality.

Legal action followed the social media reaction. On Friday, Leire Díez, a former Socialist party member whose likeness was included in the advertisement, filed a court complaint against the People's Party. She requested the immediate removal of the clip. Díez reportedly accused the party of defamation and digital identity theft. Her complaint noted that the video used her image to allude to accusations that she worked to undermine the judiciary and law enforcement to benefit the Socialist party.

Legal experts are largely siding with the opposition party in this dispute. Most of the nine legal professionals consulted by El País agreed that the video is not illegal. Their assessment focused on the fact that the clip was labelled as AI-generated and possessed a satirical tone. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean of the law faculty at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, argued that given the context, the public understands that the figures did not actually say those things. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, emphasized that legality is a separate issue from whether the video is considered appropriate, ethical, or politically correct.

Academic observers have noted the strategic implications of the campaign tactic. José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education who studies populism and AI biases, described the use of deepfakes by a party claiming to want to revitalise democracy as regrettable. He observed that both mainstream parties have been stirring emotions and attacking rivals' morality, but stated that this specific video crossed a red line. Olivas argued that placing words in other people's mouths qualifies as disinformation, regardless of the satirical intent.

The controversy in Spain mirrors trends emerging in the United States ahead of its midterm elections next month. A recent report by a Wesleyan University research group identified more than 200 ads using AI, with the majority tied to Republican candidates. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, noted that less than $50,000 in spending on AI-generated ads was found in the 2024 cycle. She added that much of the current usage in American campaigns carries no disclaimer regarding the synthetic nature of the media.

The People's Party has largely dismissed the criticism surrounding its advertisement. Party figure Borja Sémper stated that a problem would only exist if there had been a malicious intent to make people believe the characters were real. He argued that everyone can see the video uses digital tools to highlight Socialist hypocrisy. Current polling suggests that the People's Party will win the election on November 29, although they will likely need support from the far-right Vox party to form a governing coalition.