The Spanish Guardia Civil is investigating five young men suspected of having manipulated and disseminated pornographic images of 20 underage girls in the province of Seville.
In a statement, the Guardia Civil revealed that the investigation began after the parents of one of the victims filed a complaint about the dissemination of manipulated images of their daughter.
"The photographs had been altered using artificial intelligence software and distributed via an instant messaging application," it said.
Officers "identified all the people involved, both adults and minors, who used AI technology to alter images of underage girls they knew to make them appear naked".
Once manipulated, the images "were disseminated through known social media groups, causing significant emotional and social harm to the victims". In addition, "the realism of the images made it very difficult to distinguish between authentic and modified ones".
The case file, along with the identification data of the five people under investigation, has been handed over to the judicial authorities, the force says.
