‘Looked so real’: How AI is being weaponised against India’s Muslim women

Article excerpt

AI-generated sexual imagery of Muslim women is surging across Indian social media, exploiting deepfake technology to target a specific religious and gender demographic. Victims report the images feel disturbingly authentic, making them harder to dismiss or remove. Experts describe this as a deliberate weaponization of artificial intelligence, combining misogyny with communal targeting in a country where Hindu-Muslim tensions run high. The trend reveals how AI tools, once primarily feared for generic misinformation, are now being repurposed for harassment campaigns against vulnerable groups. Platforms struggle to moderate the content at scale, while affected women face reputational damage and psychological harm with limited legal recourse.