Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is pursuing €100,000 (£85,374) in damages following the dissemination of deepfake pornographic videos featuring her online.
Scheduled to appear before a court in Sassari on July 2, Meloni’s legal pursuit targets a 40-year-old man and his 73-year-old father, believed to be behind the creation of the videos, according to the BBC. Charged with defamation, the duo was traced by law enforcement via the mobile device used to upload the content the report added.
Italian law treats certain defamation cases as criminal offenses, carrying potential custodial sentences. The videos, uploaded to a US-based pornographic website, amassed “millions of views” over several months, according to the indictment.
Meloni’s legal team clarified that any awarded damages would be directed to a fund aiding female victims of violence. Maria Giulia Marongiu, Meloni’s lawyer, stressed that the demand for compensation intends to empower victims to pursue legal action against such abuses of power without fear.
The deepfake videos in question precede Meloni’s assumption of office as prime minister in 2022. “Deepfake” pornographic content has spread like wildfire on the internet in recent years, causing significant distress to victims digitally manipulated into sexually explicit scenarios.
Deepfake videos that manipulate reality are becoming more sophisticated due to advances in artificial intelligence, creating the potential for new kinds of misinformation with devastating consequences. As technology advances, worries are growing about how deepfakes can be used for nefarious purposes by hackers or state actors.
Last year, a host of high-profile fell prey to a deepfake video. In India, one such incident linked to actor Rashmika Mandanna caused an uproar and sparked conversation around the dangers of deepfakes.
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