Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking compensation of 100,000 euros after deepfake videos of her surfaced online, as reported by the BBC. These videos, in which Meloni's face was replaced with that of an adult film actor, were uploaded to an adult content website in the US and garnered "millions of views" over several months.
The individuals believed to be responsible for creating the videos, a 40-year-old and his 73-year-old father, are currently under investigation and face charges of defamation. Authorities traced the mobile device used to upload the videos to locate the suspects.
Meloni's lawyer, Maria Giulia Marongiu, described the compensation as 'symbolic' and stated that if granted, the Prime Minister would donate the sum to a fund supporting women who have experienced male violence. The videos were uploaded before Meloni's appointment as Prime Minister in 2022.
Deepfake videos involve replacing a person's likeness in an existing image or video with someone else's, and their creation has legal consequences under Italian law. Similarly, in India, deepfake videos of Bollywood actors have been circulated on social media, leading to arrests and legal actions.
