Human rights activist Laura Harth brought attention to an illegal Chinese police station in New York. Following her revelation, offensive and sexualized online slurs appeared, including claims of an affair with Tim Walz, a former vice-presidential candidate. This event occurred four years ago. Recently, the circulation of AI-generated deepfake pornographic images of Harth has increased.
Su Yutong, another activist from China, has experienced similar harassment for 15 years. Allegations of promiscuity and photoshopped nude images were the beginnings of her ordeal. She now regularly confronts deepfake pornographic images allegedly depicting her, as she mentioned in a Newsweek interview.
Deepfakes Amplify a Long-Running Campaign
Women challenging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have long faced coordinated online sexual harassment. Reports suggest these state-linked campaigns are vast in scope. Technology companies such as Meta and OpenAI have noted these efforts.
Some victims are now publicly addressing the harassment. Rome-based Harth published the images on her employer’s website, Safeguard Defenders. She told Newsweek the shame lies with her attackers, not her. “Those images don’t represent me,” Harth stated. She called those behind the campaigns to account for their actions to their families.
Su Yutong agreed for versions of her faked images to be published, with explicit details removed by Newsweek.
A Global Network of Harassment
Newsweek interviewed four politically active women, all of whom have been targeted by these campaigns. The women reside in Canada, the UK, Germany, and Italy. They feel certain the attacks originated in China, escalating during politically sensitive periods. They seek authority intervention in their countries. However, accounts like @HongHongLee1 are often taken down only to reemerge on platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
These campaigns, linked to individuals associated with Chinese law enforcement, have been documented over several years. The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not respond to comment requests.
Sex Kompromat Designed to Shame
An intelligence expert described the situation as “classic sex kompromat.” This Russian tactic employs materials designed for entrapment and discreditation. An image of Su even includes Russian text.
Nathalie Vogel, a research fellow, explained that women are targeted due to “shame being a female vulnerability.” She cited historical precedents in repressive regimes using look-alikes for entrapment. AI’s advent revolutionized such techniques.
Zang Xihong, a Canada-based commentator using the pen name Sheng Xue, also provided explicit fake images. Some reached email inboxes and mobile phones during a democracy event she attended. “People said to me, ‘hey you are very beautiful.’ But it wasn’t me,” she recalled.
According to Zang, these tactics do not impact men in the same way.
Laws Struggle to Keep Up
Zang lamented the lack of support from Canadian authorities. “The police said they couldn’t intervene because I’m an adult,” she recounted.
The U.S. witnessed its first conviction for AI-generated obscene material in Ohio in April after enacting the Take It Down Act. Italy tackled AI deepfakes with legislation last year.
Zang stresses legal action as crucial. “Getting China to stop, to admit they’re doing it, is very difficult,” she stated. Such harassment is an old tactic, she noted, discouraging female Chinese dissidents.
Misogyny and Control
Su underscores the effectiveness of such harassment. As a seasoned campaigner, she projected a video of democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo, who died in a Chinese prison hospital in 2017, onto the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. She experienced “political slut-shaming” in 2011 when false rumors of an affair with the artist Ai Weiwei circulated online. While tactics have become more sophisticated, the aim remains to damage reputations.
“A ‘loose woman’ label in China destroys reputations,” Su explained. “The CCP uses misogyny and control. Shame and sex are tactics to silence you,” she said. Su faces additional physical harassment, with her address being shared and strange men visiting her home in Berlin.
Twenty of her family and friends across China also experience harassment by Chinese police, Su said.
Taking Back Control of the Narrative
Not all targets opt to publicize the images. Carmen Lau, a democracy activist in London, remains undecided. Lau faced harassment last year through delivery of fake sexualized images to her neighbors. This harassment began around 2019 elections in Hong Kong, coinciding with her prominence as a young democracy campaigner.
“I haven’t made up my mind,” Lau said regarding publicizing the images. “These incidents impact tough activists. As a woman, it’s distressing,” she added.
For Harth, discussing the attacks alleviates the psychological toll. However, she acknowledges the harassment’s effects. “It causes paranoia and insecurity. It has changed me,” Harth admitted.
As a non-Chinese woman without family in China, Harth finds it easier to be open. “Compared to most victims, I’m fortunate and feel a responsibility to speak out,” she concluded.