What happened

Fake social media accounts purporting to be Fernandes distributed the deepfakes and engaged in sexual conversations with men who believed they were interacting with Fernandes herself. 

These interactions occasionally led to phone calls where someone used an AI-generated voice to impersonate her. 

Fernandes said the abuse had gone on for years and had caused severe emotional harm, and that her former husband Christian Ulmen had admitted to the conduct. 

Ulmen denied the claims and said he would pursue legal action against Der Spiegel over its reporting. 

The story quickly became a major public controversy in Germany, with public demonstrations and renewed debate in the country's federal parliament over how the law treats deepfake pornography. 

Fernandes also filed a complaint in Spain, which she said offers stronger protection against gender-based violence. 

Why it happened

Germany's criminal justice system has significant legal gaps when it comes to digital abuse. 

There is no dedicated "deepfake offence" to reflect the particular harm of having one's face mapped onto a stranger's body, meaning that even if Fernandes' allegations are proven, prosecutors face serious difficulties bringing charges.

An earlier criminal investigation in Germany had been discontinued due to a lack of leads. The investigation was reopened following the Der Spiegel report.