People's Party Deepfake Video Targets Sánchez's Wife Ahead of Vote

Nearly 2 million views had accumulated by Friday on a campaign video from Spain's conservative People's Party, a clip that uses artificial intelligence to generate fake statements from figures tied to the ruling Socialist party. The video depicts Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, saying she obtained a university post because of her husband's position, and a deepfake of former Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero describing hiding jewellery in a safe. Both situations relate to ongoing investigations, and both individuals have denied any wrongdoing.

The People's Party released the video on its social media channels this week as Spain moves toward general elections on 29 November. Other segments show AI-manifested likenesses of people connected to the Socialist party appearing to confess to soliciting prostitutes or accepting kickbacks.

Digital transformation minister Óscar López responded on Friday, stating in an interview with TVE: "It's telling people a colossal lie, and for a party to do it on its official accounts seems intolerable to me." He noted that the AI disclosure appeared as tiny, nearly transparent text at the bottom of the clip, a detail he said could mislead people unfamiliar with the technology.

Leire Díez, a former Socialist party member whose image was used in the video, filed a court complaint against the People's Party on Friday. She has requested the immediate removal of the advertisement and reportedly accused the party of defamation and digital identity theft, because the clip alludes to accusations that she worked to undermine the judiciary and law enforcement to benefit the Socialists.

Legal experts consulted by El País appear largely to side with the opposition party. Most of the nine specialists agreed the video was not illegal because it carried an AI label and possessed a satirical tone. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean of the law faculty at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, said that given the context, everyone knows those people did not say those things. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, stressed that legality is separate from whether the video is appropriate or ethically and politically correct.

Other observers have criticized the tactic. José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education who studies populism, conspiracy theories and AI biases, called it regrettable that a party claiming it wants to revitalize democracy would use deepfakes. He said that putting words in other people's mouths qualifies as disinformation.

The People's Party has dismissed the criticism. Party figure Borja Sémper said there would be a problem only if there had been malicious intent to make people believe the characters were real, adding that everyone can see the video uses digital tools to highlight Socialist hypocrisy. Most polls suggest the People's Party will win the election but will need support from the far-right Vox party to form a government.

The controversy is not limited to Spain. A recent report from a Wesleyan University research group identified more than 200 ads using AI ahead of next month's midterm elections in the United States, most of them tied to Republicans. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, said less than $50,000 in spending on AI-generated ads was found in the 2024 cycle, and that much of the current use carries no disclaimer.

As Spain approaches the vote, the use of AI-generated political content is emerging as a key issue, with the debate over the ethics and legality of such material playing out in both Spain and the United States.