AI Nude Images and Deepfakes: What Is Illegal in Germany?

An ordinary photo of you, and an app turns it into a nude image. AI nude images and deepfakes like this turn up in class group chats, on porn sites or in comments. The image is fake, the harm is real. This article explains what is illegal about deepfakes in Germany today (as of October 2026), what lawmakers are planning and how to get the images removed.

What are deepfakes and AI nude images?

Deepfakes are images, videos or audio recordings created or altered with software so that they look or sound real. With AI nude images, a clothed photo is turned into an apparently naked image, or a face is edited into a pornographic video. Often a single profile picture is enough.

Important: you did nothing wrong just because a photo of you exists online. The person who creates or shares the image is responsible.

What to do about AI nude images: the first steps

• Do not share it further. Do not download the image or forward it to anyone, not even to get help.
• Describe it instead of saving it. Note the link, the profile or group, the platform, the date and time, and who shared the image. Describe in words what it shows. Do not take screenshots in which the image is visible.
• Save the text around it. You can screenshot comments, messages and threats sent along with the image, as long as the image itself is not visible.
• This applies all the more for under-18s. If the image shows a person under 18, even forwarding it can be a criminal offence under § 184b or § 184c of the German Criminal Code (StGB), even if it was generated artificially. Leave the material to the police.

How to secure links, profiles and timestamps properly is explained in our guide to securing evidence of online hate. If someone threatens to spread the image unless you pay, read Sextortion: Help When You Are Blackmailed With Nude Images.

Are AI nude images illegal today?

There is currently no specific criminal offence for deepfakes in Germany. That does not mean they are allowed. Depending on the case, existing laws apply.

The right to your own image (§§ 22, 33 KUG)

Under the Art Copyright Act (Kunsturhebergesetz, KUG), images of a person may only be shared or shown publicly with their consent. An AI image in which you are recognisable can count as such an image. Sharing it without consent can be punished with up to one year in prison or a fine. This offence is only prosecuted on request (Antragsdelikt). You generally have three months to file the request for prosecution (Strafantrag), starting from when you learn of the act and the offender.

Image recordings (§ 201a StGB)

§ 201a StGB protects against humiliating image recordings. It is designed for real recordings. Whether it also covers purely AI-generated images has not been settled by Germany’s highest courts.

Insult and false claims (§§ 185–187 StGB)

If the image is shared with text that degrades you or claims false things about you, insult, defamation or malicious defamation may apply. Whether a fake image on its own already counts as an insult is disputed.

When minors are shown (§§ 184b, 184c StGB)

Here the situation is clearer. Sexual content depicting children and young people is covered even if it was generated artificially. Anyone who shares it commits an offence. For depictions of children under 14, possessing realistic content is also an offence.

Threats and extortion

If someone threatens you with the image or demands money, threat (§ 241 StGB) and extortion (§ 253 StGB) may apply. Both are prosecuted ex officio (Offizialdelikt): the police investigate on their own.

Civil law

Independently of criminal law, a sexualised deepfake will as a rule violate your personality rights. A law firm can demand that it be stopped and deleted, if necessary through an interim injunction (einstweilige Verfügung). More on this in our overview of injunctions, deletion and compensation.

What are lawmakers planning?

On 7 October 2026, the German federal government adopted a draft law to strengthen civil and criminal protection against digital violence. It is not yet in force. The Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to debate it, and the text may change. The plans include:

• a revised § 184k StGB that makes it an offence to create or share sexualised deepfakes without authorisation, meaning computer-generated images that appear to show the intimate body parts or sexual acts of a real person
• a new § 201b StGB against sharing other deepfakes that can damage a person’s reputation. Satire is not meant to be covered.
• a court procedure for disclosure of who is behind an account, and the option of having offenders’ accounts temporarily suspended in serious cases

The background includes an EU directive on combating violence against women (Directive (EU) 2024/1385). It requires member states, by June 2027, to criminalise sharing intimate images without consent, expressly including manipulated ones. Until new rules apply, the law described above remains in place.

How do you get deepfakes removed?

• Report to the platform. Use the category for intimate images shared without consent or for illegal content. Under the EU Digital Services Act, platforms must review reports carefully and tell you their decision.
• Search engines. Major search engines have dedicated forms for removing intimate images shared without consent from their results, including fake ones.
• Digital fingerprint. Services such as StopNCII.org (18 and over) and “Take It Down” by the child protection organisation NCMEC (under 18) create a fingerprint of the image on your device, which participating platforms can use to find copies. Check the service’s guidance to see whether it fits your case.
• Legal action. A law firm can demand removal from the platform and from the person sharing the image, and follow up in court.

If it happens at your school

Fake nude images of classmates are sadly not isolated cases. Tell a teacher, the head teacher or the school social worker. The school can take action, and with images of minors the police should always be involved. In Germany, young people are criminally responsible from the age of 14. More on handling it at school is in Cyberbullying at School: What to Do.

Where can you get help?

• HateAid offers free counselling to people affected by digital violence, including image-based abuse.
• The helpline for violence against women (Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen) is available around the clock on 116 016, with counselling in 18 languages.
• The Nummer gegen Kummer helpline for children and young people: 116 111 (Monday to Saturday, 2 to 8 pm, in German).
• The Telefonseelsorge crisis line: 0800 111 0 111, around the clock (in German).
• If you are being threatened or are in danger: 110.

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to create an AI nude image of someone?

For adults, merely creating such an image is not yet expressly a criminal offence. The government draft of October 2026 would change that, but it is not yet in force. If the image shows minors, the situation under §§ 184b and 184c StGB is different.

Is sharing a deepfake illegal?

Often yes, for example under the Art Copyright Act if you are recognisable. Depending on the case, other provisions may apply too. Which ones is for the police or a law firm to assess.

Do I have to save the image to report it?

No. Note the link, profile, platform and time, and describe the image in words. The police decide how the material is secured.

How long do I have to report it?

For offences prosecuted only on request, such as sharing under the Art Copyright Act, the deadline for the request for prosecution is generally three months. So do not wait too long.

You can also report it through our form. Upload links and screenshots without the image there, never the image itself. If you say yes, your report goes automatically to a suitable cooperating law firm (Kooperationskanzlei) as soon as one is available. If there is no suitable firm right now, you get an email with other places to turn to straight away. Deadlines keep running: you can always file a request for prosecution (Strafantrag) with the police yourself. The legal assessment comes from the law firm, not from us.