Italian PM seeks damages over deepfake porn videos 

Occurred: 2020-2024

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Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni sued two Italians for EUR 100,000 for creating and sharing false deepfake porn videos of her. 

Meloni accused a 40-year-old man and his 73-year-old father in Sardinia of superimposing Meloni's face onto someone else's body and sharing the videos on a US porn site. The videos were created in 2022, before Meloni became Prime Minister.

The video raised significant concerns about the use of deepfakes in Italian politics and elsewhere, and to create disinformation.

It also highlighted the ease with which deepfakes can be created and shared in a manner that violates an individual's privacy, damages their reputation, and causes emotional distress. 

Databank

Operator:
Developer:
Country: Italy
Sector: Politics
Purpose: Damage reputation
Technology: Deepfake - video, audio
Issue: Defamation; Mis/disinformation; Privacy; Safety
Transparency: Governance; Marketing