5 Things: Italian PM Meloni's Deepfake Porn Video Case

New Delhi: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni fell prey to deepfake videos back in 2022. The term 'deepfake' emerged in late 2017 when a Reddit moderator established a subreddit with that name, sharing videos where celebrities' faces were superimposed onto bodies in preexisting pornographic content. Today, 'deepfake' refers to any convincingly fabricated videos, images, or audio clips depicting individuals in scenarios they have not actually experienced. Two men made pornographic videos of Italian PM Giorgia Meloni by superimposing her face on another person's body. Here are 5 things to know about the case: 

1. Legal Action 

PM Giorgia Meloni is pursuing legal action against the perpetrators of a deepfake video depicting her in a pornographic scenario, seeking €100,000 in damages. 

2. 2022's Deepfake Video 

The deepfake video garnered millions of views on a US adult website.

3. Tracking Perpetrators

Police located the suspects by tracking the smartphone that was used to upload the videos and the deepfake videos in question dates back to 2022, as per the report. This means that the videos are from the time when Giorgia Meloni was not Italy's premier.

4. Defamation Charges

PM Meloni is scheduled to testify in court in Sassari, Sardinia on July 2, with a 40-year-old man accused of creating the explicit deepfake video using her likeness, along with his 73-year-old father, facing charges of defamation punishable by imprisonment.

5. Compensation 

The demand for compensation, labeled as 'symbolic' by PM Meloni's lawyer, aims to empower women facing similar abuses of power not to hesitate in seeking justice, as highlighted in a report by BBC.

Deepfake videos, digitally manipulating faces for malicious purposes, have surfaced globally, including India, targeting celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Rashmika Mandanna, and Alia Bhatt, often intended to tarnish their reputations and even extort money.