Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking 100,000 euros, which is approximately Rs 90,89,248, after deepfake pornographic videos of her were created and uploaded online.
According to BBC, Meloni is due to testify in court in Sassari on July 2. A 40-year-old man and his 73-year-old father are under investigation for creating the clips by superimposing Meloni’s face on another person’s body.
The police were able to locate the duo after tracking the mobile that was used to post the videos. They have been accused of defamation and under the Italian law, some defamation cases can be criminal and result in a jail sentence.
As per the indictment, the deepfake videos were shared on a US pornographic website and were viewed “millions of times” over the course of several months. The deepfake videos of Meloni date back to 2022, before she was appointed as Italy’s Prime Minister.
Maria Giulia Marongiu, Meloni's lawyer termed the sum of 100,000 euros as "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."
According to the Prime Minister's legal team, she will donate the 100,000 euros to a fund to support women who have been victims of male violence.
Meanwhile, last year, actor Rashmika Mandanna fell prey to a deepfake video where her face was morphed on the body of British-Indian influencer Zara Patel. The incident caused an uproar and sparked conversation around the dangers of deepfakes.
"I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online. Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me, but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused," Mandanna wrote in a post on X last year.
The creator of the actor’s deepfake video was arrested in January. Mandanna expressed her gratitude towards the Delhi Police after the department arrested a B-Tech graduate from Andhra Pradesh.
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