Spain's ruling party sues over AI ad featuring PM's wife

Leire Díez, a former member of the Socialist Party, filed a court complaint against Spain's People's Party (PP) on Friday. She is seeking the immediate removal of a political advertisement that used artificial intelligence to generate her likeness. The lawsuit alleges defamation and digital identity theft. Díez claims the video used her image to suggest she worked to undermine the judiciary and law enforcement to benefit her former party.

The PP released the video on its social media channels earlier this week. The clip uses AI to manipulate the appearances of several individuals connected to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government. In one segment, an AI-generated version of Begoña Gómez, Sánchez's wife, discusses obtaining a university position due to her husband's role in government. Another segment features a deepfake of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero discussing hiding jewelry in a safe. Both references align with ongoing investigations, though Gómez and Zapatero have both denied wrongdoing.

By Friday, the video had accumulated nearly two million views. Óscar López, the minister for digital transformation, criticized the ad during an interview with broadcaster TVE. He stated that the party was telling people a colossal lie on its official accounts. López pointed out that the label identifying the content as AI appeared in small, nearly transparent text at the bottom of the screen. He warned that viewers unfamiliar with the technology could easily mistake the clip for reality.

Legal experts consulted by the newspaper El País generally favor the PP's position. Eight of nine experts agreed the video was likely legal because it was labeled as AI-generated and maintained a satirical tone. Íñigo Navarro, a former dean of law at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, noted that the context makes it clear the figures did not actually speak the lines. Juan Antonio Lascuraín, a criminal law professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid, emphasized that legality is distinct from ethical or political appropriateness.

José Javier Olivas, an associate professor at Spain's National University for Distance Education, described the use of deepfakes as regrettable for a party claiming to revitalise democracy. He said the video crossed a red line by putting words in other people's mouths, which he classified as disinformation. Borja Sémper, a PP figure, dismissed the criticism by stating there would only be a problem if the party had malicious intent to make viewers believe the characters were real. He argued the video highlights Socialist hypocrisy.

The controversy arises as Spain approaches general elections on November 29. Most polls indicate the PP will win the vote, though it will likely require support from the far-right Vox party to form a government. Similar trends are visible in the United States, where a Wesleyan University research group identified more than 200 AI-generated ads ahead of next month's midterms. Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, noted that much of the current usage lacks a disclaimer, a shift from the 2024 cycle where spending on such ads was under $50,000.