Renew Europe welcomed a key step forward on online safety after European Parliament committees backed a ban on AI “nudification” apps in the AI Digital Omnibus, aimed at tackling harmful and abusive uses of artificial intelligence.
Recent scandals involving AI systems capable of producing sexualised deepfakes have intensified calls for clear rules to prevent harm and uphold fundamental rights.
The vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) and Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) reflects growing concern about the misuse of generative AI to create non-consensual intimate images.
Renew Europe has repeatedly stressed the need for a clear prohibition on AI systems that digitally undress individuals or generate non-consensual sexualised content, warning that such tools undermine human dignity, privacy and safety, particularly for women and minors.
Michael McNamara MEP (Independent, IE), European Parliament co-rapporteur on the Digital Omnibus on AI, said:
“Today Parliament has drawn a red line. AI must never be used to humiliate, exploit or endanger people. The Parliament’s position, for the first time, calls for an explicit ban on nudification applications. These tools inflict real harm on real people. This was not in the Commission’s original proposal, but Renew pushed for it and we got it over the line. Today, as co-legislators, the European Parliament is sending a clear message that this is a priority.”
Renew Europe has worked to strike the right balance in the Digital Omnibus, focusing on an AI framework that supports innovation, simplification and easier procedures.
ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn MEP (FDP, DE), IMCO shadow rapporteur, said:
“The parliamentary position on the AI Omnibus is a major win for European businesses and jobs. By ending unnecessary double regulation of industrial AI, we are cutting red tape, strengthening legal certainty, and giving our companies the freedom to innovate and stay competitive. This has been my priority for the negotiations and I will continue to push in the trilogue to ensure this pragmatic approach is upheld across member states.”