Row over AI caricatures of Hillingdon councillor

A west London councillor has called for stronger protections for elected officials after AI-generated caricatures depicting her were posted on social media by the local Conservative Party.

Sital Punja, a Labour member of Tory-controlled Hillingdon Council, said the images using AI to manipulate her likeness contained "racist and antisemitic tropes".

One cartoon image posted by the Hillingdon Conservatives on X showed Punja, who is of Indian descent, controlling white male counterparts as puppets.

The Hillingdon Conservative Group rejected the allegations, stating the images were intended strictly as "political satire", and denied any racist or antisemitic intent.

"It was the racism. And I don't accept that they think it's political satire," Punja told BBC London.

"Puppeteering tropes have been used as antisemitic and racist tropes for years - for decades, for a very long time.

"As Labour Party members, we get antisemitic training to ensure our awareness of what is antisemitic, and tropes like these are used in our training so that we have awareness of that."

Another AI-generated cartoon shared by the local Conservative account showed Punja running past horse-drawn carts bearing slogans criticising Labour policies.

She said: "Political satire is bouncing off policies... it doesn't mean you have to have a brown woman controlling white men, running off with money on the backdrop of finances going down.

"The portrayal of me had exaggerated features, making me look like the menace that you want me to look like."

Punja, who used to be the Labour group's deputy leader, said a wider campaign of online abuse had taken a severe toll on her health.

"From July last year, it had become extremely toxic as a female politician," she said. "Race and gender had to play a part in why people were attacking me.

"Having been subjected to this, I really do think about it now. I've had to go to the police, I've had to talk to my children about safety, and people don't realise the impact it has on your mental health."

She added: "To tell me - who has been beaten up on the streets as a young child for the colour of my skin - that I don't know what racism feels like, is appalling."

The Hillingdon Conservative Group denied the posts were racist, antisemitic or misogynistic, describing them as "political satire relating to Councillor Punja's position and former influence".

"We completely reject any antisemitic references or claims relating to this," the group's spokesperson said.

"It was merely a reference to Councillor Punja 'pulling the strings' of her colleagues at the time when she was deputy leader of Hillingdon Labour."

They added local Labour branches had also posted AI-manipulated images of Conservative members online, citing posts showing Tory councillors alongside a gameshow wheel and "closed" signs on local services.

Punja said these accounts were not associated with her and were not the same as the Hillingdon Labour group posting them.

Dr Ben Gidley, an academic at Birkbeck University's Institute for the Study of Antisemitism, said politicians should be careful when using AI to create images.

While declining to comment on the specific Hillingdon dispute, Gidley noted the "puppet master" motif had deep historical roots in antisemitic propaganda, warning that AI image tools risk "intensifying the use of racist imagery" by drawing on vast datasets of historical prejudice.

He said in recent years, far-right social media accounts had applied similar imagery to target other minority groups in addition to Jews.

"Social media has really accelerated the speed at which misinformation, caricatures, stereotypes get circulated," he said.

"It's sped up the ways in which that reservoir of hostile ideas kind of circulates."

Punja said she had reported the images posted by the Conservatives to Hillingdon Council's Standards Committee and called for local government rules to be modernised.

"I would like to see our members' code of conduct upgraded to incorporate social media, and more legislation around AI images," she said.

"Once those images go into AI systems, an image of me will be characterised in that way forever."

Punja said she remained committed to her role in local government.

"If I stop, they've won," she said. "A diverse, inclusive society means that we need to have all types of people around the table and all voices heard."

Hillingdon Council said it had a recognised complaints process and would not comment on individual allegations.

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