Paris: The woman was walking across a street in a long pink outfit and hijab. Then politics changed the picture.
French National Rally MP and party spokesperson Julien Odoul shared an AI altered version of the photograph in which the woman’s hijab had disappeared, her hair was exposed and her clothing had been changed to a white top and trousers.
His caption was brief: “French freedom.”
The image quickly became the subject of controversy, with critics questioning the use of artificial intelligence to alter the appearance of a real woman who had not asked to be represented that way.
The original photograph had been shared by left wing MP Aly Diouara on September 4 with the caption “Liberty”. Odoul responded with his digitally altered version, turning an existing political disagreement over the hijab into a manipulated image of the woman herself.
The episode has also raised a more uncomfortable question about consent.
According to reports citing the woman’s family, the original photograph had itself been taken without her consent and she wanted to remain anonymous. The image was subsequently removed from the media platforms where it had appeared, although copies continued circulating online.
The controversy comes as the wearing of the hijab in public spaces has returned to the centre of French political debate.
The National Rally has been advocating restrictions on the public wearing of the Islamic veil. In recent days, women opposed to the proposal have responded on social media by posting images of themselves wearing veils in what they describe as an expression of solidarity and support for freedom of choice.
Odoul has a long record of involvement in France’s debate over the hijab. In 2019, he caused controversy after demanding that a veiled woman accompanying schoolchildren remove her veil during a regional council session. French law did not impose a general religious neutrality requirement on such school trip accompanying adults.
The latest episode, however, introduces a new element: AI.
A photograph that once simply showed what a woman was wearing can now be altered in seconds to show what someone else believes she should be wearing.
That makes the dispute larger than a single social media post.
It raises a question increasingly relevant to politics in the age of generative AI: when technology can rewrite a real person’s appearance, who gets to decide what that person represents?
For Odoul, the altered image was presented as an expression of French freedom.
For his critics, the irony is precisely the opposite.
Because freedom is not only the right to decide what others should see.
It is also the right to decide what happens to your own image.
