What happened

Images shared by Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini’s League party's social media accounts allegedly showed coloured immigrants, often armed and with their faces blurred to give an impression of authenticity, attacking women or police officers.

The League party claimed its posts were based on actual news events; however, digital forensics experts identified clear signs of the use of AI to manipulate the images. 

Opposition parties filed a formal complaint with the country’s communications authority, Agcom, accusing Lega of systemically portraying immigrants and Arabs as threats and criminals, and of intentionally seeking to incite hatred, discrimination and violence.

Why it happened

The League party’s use of AI-generated and manipulated content appears to be an intentional strategy to construct narratives linking specific ethnic or religious groups to criminality, amplifying anti-immigrant sentiment for political gain. 

It mirrors a broader trend among far-right groups across Europe, which increasingly use synthetic media to promote conspiracy theories and anti-immigration rhetoric.