A SERIES OF fabricated images appear to show TD Paul Murphy wearing women’s clothes in the Dáil and at a protest.

These images targeting the People Before Profit–Solidarity politician were all posted to a far-right Facebook group where, as of writing, they were further shared more than a hundred times.

One of these images included a fake quote where Murphy talks about being impregnated and having an abortion, while another mocks the TD for his opposition to the misuse of AI. All these posts referred to the politician as “Pauline”.

In reality, Murphy did decry AI “being forced down our throats by big tech and by propaganda from a Government that is in thrall to big tech” in the Dáil on Thursday. Murphy was speaking in the wake of reports about abusive images being generated and shared on the social media platform X.

However, the images of him wearing a dress and a fascinator in the Dáil are false, likely created by AI.

There has been a trend in AI-generated images being used to mock politicians, regularly posted into fringe groups.

The Journal has recently debunked images of Sinn Féin politicians produced by an AI, which depicted them as Orangemen, covered with ash in a war zone, waving the English flag, and attending an LGBT+ Pride parade wearing sparkling shirts and a harness.

While such AI-generated images are often meant satirically, they risk fooling people into believing they are real.

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