Giorgia Meloni: Italian PM seeks damages over deepfake porn videos
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, is pursuing €100,000 (£85,374) in compensation following the dissemination of deepfake pornographic videos depicting her online.
Scheduled to present her testimony in a court located in the Sardinian city of Sassari on July 2nd, Ms. Meloni aims to address the matter.
A deepfake image involves digitally superimposing one person’s face onto another person’s body.
An investigation targets a 40-year-old man believed to have created the videos, alongside his 73-year-old father.
Authorities managed to locate the suspects by tracing the mobile device used to upload the videos.
Both individuals face accusations of defamation, with some forms of defamation in Italy being criminal offenses carrying potential custodial sentences.
According to the prosecution, the videos surfaced on a US-based pornographic website, amassing millions of views over several months.
If her claim for damages proves successful, Ms. Meloni has pledged to donate the awarded €100,000 to a fund supporting women who have experienced male violence, as per her legal team.
Maria Giulia Marongiu, Ms Meloni’s lawyer, said the sum was “symbolic” and the demand for compensation was meant to “send a message to women who are victims of this kind of abuse of power not to be afraid to press charges.”
The deepfake videos of Ms Meloni date back to before she was appointed prime minister in 2022.
In recent years, deepfake porn has become commonplace on the internet.
Victims have spoken about the trauma of seeing their faces digitally edited onto photos of women in sexually explicit scenes.
