- Father and son accused of creating Meloni deepfake
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned deepfake porn videos as a “form of violence against women” as she appeared in court to demand punishment for the two men who allegedly made fake, explicit videos of her and shared them online.
The 47-year-old, who appeared in court by video conference from Rome on Tuesday, said: “I insist on demanding the punishment of those responsible because I consider what they did intolerable.” according to the Italian media outlet Ansa.
‘This is a form of violence against women. It’s intolerable in terms of how these images made me feel.
Allessio Scurosu, 40, and his father Roberto, 74, from Sardinia, are accused of creating a deepfake video featuring Meloni and sharing it on American porn websites.
Prosecutors said the images, taken in 2020, have been viewed millions of times.
Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni appeared in court yesterday via video link to demand compensation from a father and son who created fake pornographic videos of her in 2020.
The Italian leader said deepfake porn videos are a “form of violence against women” and called for stricter regulations around AI-generated images.
Meloni, who filed a defamation suit earlier this year against the father and son, is seeking 100,000 euros (or £84,000) in damages, which he plans to donate to a fund to help women victims of domestic violence. .
Her lawyers had previously said the prime minister’s reason for pursuing the case was “to send a message to women who are victims of this type of abuse of power so that they should not be afraid to press charges.”
The politician also expressed concern on Tuesday about the way artificial intelligence can be used to produce images that look real.
Deepfakes are media generated by artificial intelligence that imitate human voices, images and videos that can be mistaken for real ones.
‘With the arrival of artificial intelligence, if we let a woman’s face mount on another woman’s body, our daughters will find themselves in these situations, which is why I consider it legitimate to wage this war,’ Meloni said.
He also noted that he believed there should be tougher laws around deepfakes.
Meloni is not the only public figure who has had explicit deepfakes made and shared online for millions of people to see.
Female celebrities have been the main target of deepfake images since 2018, when Natalie Portman appeared in a video.
It comes as sexually explicit deepfake images of singer Taylor Swift went viral earlier this year.
Harry Potter star Emma Watson also appeared in an explicit ad on social media this year.
Marvel actress Scarlett Johansson also came under fire last year when a fake video ad appeared promoting Lisa AI.
Earlier this year, fake pornographic images of singer Taylor Swift went viral on social media after garnering more than 27 million views and 260,000 likes before being removed.
In March, Harry Potter star Emma Watson appeared in a fake ad on social media where she appeared to engage in a sexual act.
The controversy surrounding Meloni’s fake porn comes as more than 400 AI experts, celebrities, politicians and activists signed an open letter earlier this year demanding lawmakers regulate the use of generative AI technology to create deepfakes.
The letter, titled “Deepfake Supply Chain Disruption,” argued that the growing number of AI-generated videos are a threat to society due to the involvement of sexual images, child pornography, fraud and political misinformation.
It also claims that deepfake technology is misleading the public, making it more difficult to discern what is real on the Internet, and that it is therefore more important than ever to implement formalized laws “to protect our ability to recognize real human beings.”