Germany's cabinet approves a bill criminalizing sexual deepfakes

Germany's federal cabinet approved a draft law on October 7, 2026 that would make sexual deepfakes a crime, adding new offenses to the country's Criminal Code and new court powers over the platforms and hosts that carry them.

The bill is the "Gesetz zur Stärkung des zivilrechtlichen und strafrechtlichen Schutzes vor digitaler Gewalt," a law to strengthen civil and criminal protection against digital violence. The cabinet agreed it in Berlin and sent it to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the two chambers of parliament, according to the Bundesregierung. Nothing is in force. The draft must pass both chambers before it becomes law, and under its Article 17 most of the measure would take effect on the first day of the quarter after it is published, a date the text leaves blank.

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD), who wrote the draft, said Germany's rules have not kept pace with the problem. The government said "the law is lagging behind digital reality," Politico reported. "Germany currently has no criminal provision that makes the creation and distribution of [sexual] deepfakes punishable. I want us to amend the Criminal Code accordingly," Hubig said, according to Politico. At the cabinet presentation she described digital violence as "wie ein Flächenbrand," like a wildfire, and said the law would end "Straflosigkeit für Täter im digitalen Raum," impunity for offenders online, per the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Under the draft, section 184k of the Criminal Code (StGB) would be rewritten to punish making or sharing, without authorization, an intimate image of a real person, including a computer-made image that falsely appears to show a specific person nude or in a sexual act. The maximum is two years in prison or a fine, rising to three years when the image depicts a rape. A related provision, 184k(2), covers accessing, obtaining or possessing a recording of a rape, aipolicydesk reported from the draft text.

Three more offenses are new. Section 201b covers sharing computer-made or altered content that appears to show a real event involving another person and could seriously damage that person's reputation; it applies even when the person shown has died and it excludes satire. Section 201c covers sharing damaging content while posing as another person, as through a fake profile. Section 202e covers repeated covert tracking of a person's location or activity using technology such as GPS trackers. Each carries up to two years or a fine, per aipolicydesk.

The draft keeps exceptions for art, science, research, teaching and news reporting, written into section 184k(5) and extended to 201b and 201c. Most of the offenses would be prosecuted only on the victim's complaint unless prosecutors find a special public interest, aipolicydesk reported from the text.

The civil half creates a new statute, the Gesetz gegen digitale Gewalt (GgdG), built on the EU's Digital Services Act. It would reach online platforms, web and cloud hosting services, and messaging services that allow group chat. With an order from a regional court, the Landgericht, a provider could be required to preserve a user's data, hand over the user's identity to the applicant, remove the content, and, for social networks, block the accounts. The Bundesregierung said the bar for an account block is set high to protect freedom of expression.

Non-EU social networks would have to name an authorized recipient in Germany when they begin offering the service there and point to that person in the product. Failing to do so carries a fine of up to 500,000 euros, enforced by the Federal Office of Justice, aipolicydesk reported. The draft also repeals the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG).

The reform drew criticism from parts of the legal profession. The Deutsche Richterbund, a judges' association, said tightening the law alone would not be enough, tagesschau reported. The Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, the federal bar, responding to an earlier version of the bill in April, warned of added strain on courts and on free speech and called the threshold for account blocks too low. The Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte, a civil-liberties group, said broader disclosure claims and the release of IP addresses and communications data could weaken anonymous speech, heise reported.

For people building or hosting generative tools, the civil duties are the part to watch. A developer running a community feature, a file host or a group chat would answer to a German court order for data or a takedown once the law is in force, though the account-blocking power is limited to social networks and the criminal provisions carve out satire and reporting.

The bill now goes to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat; it does not become law until both chambers pass it and it is published.