Influencer charged

AI nude photos brought before Vienna criminal court

The Indian man (29) was in custody before his trial.

(Bild: Sophie Pratschner, Krone KREATIV)

At the end of 2024, a 25-year-old woman submitted several nude photos to the Vienna police - deceptively real at first glance, but at second glance you can see that the images were generated by artificial intelligence. This is one of the reasons why an Indian influencer is now sitting before the judge in Vienna, who is encountering many ambiguities ...

Creating images that never happened - that's what artificial intelligence makes possible. And unfortunately, it sometimes falls into the wrong hands. This was allegedly the case in Vienna Regional Court. A 29-year-old man is said to have published naked pictures of a young woman on his Instagram profile with over 85,000 followers - but the two were not even in contact. The images were allegedly AI-generated.

Indian influencer allegedly blackmailed 25-year-old woman
The Indian man who has now been charged is brought out of custody in handcuffs. He allegedly used the fake nude pictures to blackmail and coerce the 25-year-old. On the one hand, he demanded 150,000 rupees (1,650 euros) from the woman, who is also very active on Instagram, and on the other, he wanted to video chat with her and have her take off her clothes.

Accused speaks of envy
The accusations are completely fictitious, the accused asserts. "I don't even know her." Some time ago, he had been involved in a social project in India and shared this on his Instagram profile. "That made me very famous. She was apparently jealous of this success," explains the 29-year-old, who is currently in asylum proceedings. When he was arrested, he gave his occupation as actor and model.

The police said that this was about social media. People can do what they want there. Nothing can be done about it.

Zeugin über Videokonferenz im Wiener Landl

The witness - also Indian with over 40,000 followers on Instagram - is connected via video conference from London. She also affirms: "I've never seen this person in person. But he is very active on social media." He posted an edited video of her for the first time on July 13. "I literally begged him not to do that." During the trial, however, it emerged that the young woman had also published photomontages of the accused - "I wanted to show everyone what kind of things he does", she defended herself. 

Why did the case end up in the hands of the Austrian judiciary? The 25-year-old would have wanted to press charges in England - "The police said that this is about social media. People can do what they want there. There's nothing you can do." She was listened to more by the authorities here.

Acquittal in case of doubt
But even for the single judge in Vienna, there is not enough evidence for a conviction. There was no proof that the accused had actually published the nude photos on his Instagram profile. The pitfalls of AI: it is also no longer possible to determine who created the images ...

However, the 29-year-old Indian was convicted for a brawl at Vienna Central Station with a blank-firing pistol. He receives a three-month conditional prison sentence - not legally binding.