AI-generated videos depicting violence against Catalan politician spark legal complaint

What happened

Two anonymous users created AI-generated videos using Grok on the social media platform X in October 2025. The videos depicted Sílvia Orriols, leader of the far-right Aliança Catalana party and mayor of Ripoll, committing violence against Carles Puigdemont, a former Catalan president and leader of Junts per Catalunya. One video showed Orriols kicking Puigdemont; another showed her pointing a gun at him.

Reported impact

Junts per Catalunya expressed strong concern and dissatisfaction with the videos' distribution. Puigdemont's lawyer, Gonzalo Boye, announced plans to file a complaint for hate crime, characterizing the incident as installation of hate speech rather than legitimate political discourse.

Index analysis

The videos originated from anonymous accounts created in October 2025 on X with only recent activity. The source image used for the deepfakes came from a digital newspaper article on Aliança Catalana and JxCat.

Classification

Organizations

X (deployer), Junts per Catalunya (victim), Carles Puigdemont (victim), Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, Gonzalo Boye, Grok (deployer)

Category

Misinformation and synthetic media

Industry

Media, social platforms and marketing

Country

Spain

Harm status

Potential harm

Intent

Unknown

Timing

Unknown

Harm types

Reputational, Public interest

Failure modes

Deepfake video

Consequences

Litigation

AI systems

Grok

Sources and evidence

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