Giorgia Meloni tells court alleged deepfake porn videos of her are ‘form of violence’

Tue, October 8, 2024 at 3:28 PM EDT

Italy’s prime minister appeared in court on Tuesday to demand punishment for two men who allegedly created deepfake pornographic videos of her and posted them online.

Giorgia Meloni, who dialled into the courtroom by videolink, has demanded 100,000 euros (£84,000) in compensation, which she said she will donate to a fund that helps female victims of domestic violence.

Roberto Scurosu, 73, and his son Alessio Scurosu, 40, from Sardinia, are accused of creating the fake videos featuring Ms Meloni and posting them to American porn websites in 2020, two years before she became prime minister.

The videos were viewed millions of times, prosecutors allege.

Both men are accused of defamation. In Italy, some defamation cases can be criminal and carry a custodial sentence.

“I insist on demanding the punishment of those who are responsible because I consider what they did to be intolerable,” the prime minister told the court, according to Ansa, Italy’s national news agency.

“This is a form of violence against women. It is intolerable in terms of how these images made me feel.

“With the advent of artificial intelligence, if we allow the face of some woman to be superimposed on the body of another woman, our daughters will find themselves in these situations, which is exactly why I consider it legitimate to wage this war.

“I consider it to be my responsibility and maybe there should be more severe laws.”

‘Sends message to women victims not to be afraid’

Ms Meloni appeared by video link from Rome, giving evidence in the trial held in the Sardinian town of Sassari.

She expressed worry about the way AI can be used to produce images that appear to be authentic.

The prime minister responded to questions put to her by a prosecutor, Maria Paola Asara, the judge in the case, Monia Adami, and a defence lawyer, Maurizio Serra.

Her decision to pursue the case is intended to “send a message to women who are victims of this kind of abuse of power not to be afraid to press charges”, her lawyer said earlier this year.

Police were able to identify the father and son by analysing their phone and computer records, as well as nicknames that they used online.

Deepfakes are realistic-looking videos, images or audio clips that depict people in situations they have never actually been in by using technology that digitally enhances or changes content.

According to the Ban Deepfakes campaign, deepfake sexual content increased by more than 400 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

Fake pornographic images of the actresses Emma Watson and Kristen Bell and the singer Taylor Swift, among others, have gone viral, sometimes being seen millions of times before platforms remove the content.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/intolerable-giorgia-meloni-tells-court-192834946.html